A Camping We Will Go
by Rowanoak23
Summary: Cheerilee enlists Rainbow Dash and Big Macintosh to take six children: Sweetie Belle, Silver Spoon, Snails, Dinky Doo, Pipsqueak and Archer on a week-long camping trip to Whitetail Woods to teach them teamwork and confidence building. They are so doomed.
1. Chapter 1

"!" A filly's high pitch squeal of delight cut through the afternoon sky over Ponyville, accompanied by the sight of a rainbow contrail wrapping stretching across the blue.

"You hanging on back there squirt?" Rainbow Dash shouted to be heard over the noise of air whooshing past. She addressed her passenger who clung to her back, her muzzle buried in Rainbow's mane.

"Ya huh!" The little unicorn filly nodded, her eyes wide. "This is **so** coool!" Rainbow grinned.

"Yeah it is, isn't it?"

"I wish I could be a pegasus like you and mom!" Piped the little voice into her ear. "You're the best flyer ever! No pony's as fast as you!"

"Heh, yup, all true." The cyan pegasus beamed, soaking up the praise like plants being watered. "But your mom's pretty cool too, right Dinky?" Pause. "Dinky Doo?" A moment of panic gripped Rainbow Dash. "Oh geeze, please tell me you're still back there!"

"I-I am!" Dinky Doo answered. Rainbow gave a sigh of relief.

"Phew, don't scare—er, I mean, just don't do that. What was with the silence back there? You know Ditzy's cool, right?"

"I-I guess so."

"You guess?"

"Well, I think momma's cool, but the other ponies at school are always saying things about her!"

"Things." Rainbow repeated neutrally. She sighed. "Ugh, hold on we're gonna land for a bit. We need to talk." Since they were currently over Sweet Apple Acres, Rainbow decided that a nice quiet, secluded area of the orchard was as good a place as any for a pony-to-pony talk.

Rainbow Dash landed and kneeled down, letting Dinky slide off her back.

"Okay, now, what's this about your classmates saying stuff about your mom?" She asked with a snort. Dinky Doo looked down, pawing her hoof in the dirt.

"W-well, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were calling me 'Stinky Doo' and saying how my mom's eyes are weird and that she'd weird and she talks funny and can't fly good and—" Rainbow Dash held up her hoof.

"Whoa whoa whoa. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon? Aren't they those spoiled little brats who gives Apple Bloom and her friends grief for not having their cutie marks yet?" Dinky nodded quickly. "Well, why do you care what they think? They're just a couple of dumb fillies."

"But, but…" Dinky's lip trembled. "But it's not just them! Other ponies at school say that too! And in town! Everypony says those sorta things! They get all quiet when they see me or mom coming and sometimes giggle. When I'm alone they're always asking if I'm getting everything I need, if I'm hungry, like, like—they don't think mom can do it herself!" She started tearing up. "Everypony thinks my mom's dumb!"

"Aww, Dinky…" Rainbow stretched out her wing, gently bringing the little unicorn closer. "C'mere…" As much as Rainbow Dash generally didn't like being all touchy-feely she hated seeing kids cry even more. It was just totally uncool. _Besides_, she thought to herself, _Ditzy's a friend and, you know, Element of Loyalty and all that_…

The little filly sniffled as she rubbed her head against Rainbow's flank. "Listen, Ditzy Doo is at _least_ 20% cooler than just about any other pegasus in Ponyville. You know how I know?" Dinky looked up, shaking her head. "Because your mom once saved my life."

Dinky looked up, tears still stained her face but she had stopped crying. "R-really?" She gaped. "**Mom** saved you? You?"

Dash gave a sickly smile. "Hey, you don't have to shout it quite so loud…but yeah."

"How? When? Tellmetellmetellme!" Dinky pleaded, her hooves wrapped around Dash's leg. "Pleeeeeeeease?"

"All right, all right! Sheesh, you've been hanging around Apple Bloom too much." Dash said with a grin. "So, uh, okay. Here's how it goes: I was practicing this new trick over the Everfree Forest. It was way cool but I might've _slightly_ miscalculated this one spin and before I knew it I was on the ground and confronted by the biggest, meanest, ugliest chimera EVER! Well, I put up my hooves and started to duke it out! Showed him a thing or two! But he got in a cheap, lucky shot and had me pinned. But then…"

"…and then my mom swooped down and dropped a bag full of packages on that chimera's head! SMACK!" Dinky shouted, stamping her hooves for emphasis as the fillies and colts listening to her tale listened with slack jawed amazement. "That dumb ol' chimera was stunned and that let Rainbow Dash get out of his claws and finish teaching that monster a lesson!"

"Whoa…." The children all breathed at once. Rainbow Dash smirked. As Dinky was standing in front of the schoolhouse giving Rainbow Dash's slightly edited version of said events, Rainbow walked into the school from the back. She wanted to have a word with Cheerilee and not get mobbed by a herd of adoring fans…well, maybe later.

"Hello?" She poked her head into Cheerilee's room to find the mauve pony straightening up desks and collecting papers from when her eager students had stampeded out when the bell rang.

The teacher pony looked up with a look of surprise and a smile when she saw she had company. "Oh, Rainbow Dash! Good afternoon!"

"Afternoon Cheerilee." Dash gave a quick nod. "Look, I wanna talk to you about that filly, Diadem Tiara."

Cheerilee looked confused. "You mean Diamond Tiara?"

"Whatever. Point is she's been picking on Dinky which is NOT cool with me. Her mom's a friend of mine and she does not need to be badmouthed by her daughter's classmates."

Frowning, Cheerilee nodded. "I'll speak to her and her father. Thank you for telling me Rainbow Dash." She sighed. "I just wish Dinky felt comfortable enough to come to me with her problems."

Rainbow shrugged her wings. "She didn't even want to talk to me but, I talked her into it. And it seems like other kids are following Diamond Tiara's lead and picking on Dinky and Ditzy."

"Hmm…" Cheerilee brought a hoof up to her chin as she thought. "That's another problem right there." Then her eyes widened. "One I think you can help me with!"

Rainbow Dash looked confused. "Um, what're you talking about?"

"Dinky, unfortunately, isn't the only little pony who has confidence issues. There are a number of students who simply go along with what their friends are doing and, I'm afraid, are having trouble speaking up for themselves." Cheerilee looked at her. "Surely you've noticed how Silver Spoon always follows Diamond Tiara's lead or how Snails is willing to let Snips talk him into things he wouldn't think of himself."

Rainbow Dash, who really hadn't noticed anything of the sort, opened her mouth to say something about how little Snails thought *period* but for a change thought better of it and kept listening.

"Even friends as close as the Cutie Mark Crusaders have some ponies with a more…assertive nature than others, such as Apple Bloom and Scootaloo for instance. I'm afraid that Sweetie Belle listens to her friends more often than she does herself."

"Sooo…what're you saying?" Rainbow Dash wished Cheerilee would get to the point. "Are you saying you don't want Sweetie Belle to be friends with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo?"

"Oh my, of course not!" Cheerilee shook her head fiercely. "I would never think of breaking up any of the friendships my little ponies form! I'm just concerned that the less confident ponies are getting so used to listening to and doing whatever their more confident friends are doing that they're having trouble speaking up for themselves and developing as individuals. And there's the fact that all the fillies and colts keep together in their own groups that they don't interact as much with the other children. Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara, Snips and Snails, the Cutie Mark Crusaders…I'm afraid that if they don't learn to socialize outside of their own little groups that they won't be able to function on their own."

"A huh." Rainbow Dash scratched her mane with her hoof. "Sooo, what do you want me to do about?"

Cheerilee smiled. "I was thinking that it might be nice if you took some of the less confident ponies in town on a little camping trip with you to Whitetail Woods! That way, they'll have the chance to discover their own strength and initiative without relying on their more assertive and confident friends to do it for them. You could teach them about survival training, learning to work together and it'll give them a chance to make new friends and have fun!" She clapped her hooves, delighted at her own idea.

"Aw yeah, camping is pretty cool!" Rainbow smiled. Then she looked confused. "Uuuuuuh, yeah, I dunno Cheers….why me?"

"Well, Rainbow Dash, you're the most confident pony I know!" Cheerilee smiled. "Surely, you can help give these little ponies some advice in learning to be more self confident! Who would be better suited than you?" She added, trying to butter Rainbow up.

It worked. "Heh, well, I can't really argue with you there…I AM the epiphany of confidence and awesomeness."

"I think the word you're looking for is 'epitome.' "

"That too." Rainbow Dash nodded. "Anyway, who did you have in mind to go on this camping trip?"

"Let's see…I'd like you to take Silver Spoon, give her a chance to develop some character of her own out from underneath Diamond Tiara's hoof."

"I bet she'll just love it." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, imagining the snobby pony roughing it in the wilderness.

"I'd also like you to take Sweetie Belle…she always tries a little too hard to be a good friend to the other Crusaders and a good sister to Rarity that I think she undervalues herself. At the very least, she needs to not be so dependent on Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. Snails needs some confidence too, poor dear. And who else? Oh! You mentioned Dinky has some confidence issues. This trip could be just what she needs! And little Pipsqueak's a dear but he's having some trouble fitting in since he just moved here and poor Archer, it's like nopony even notices her!"

"Who?"

"Blue earth pony, bow and arrow cutie mark?"

"Oh, okay." Rainbow tapped her hoof, thinking it over. "Taking six little ponies on a camping trip to Whitetail Woods… hiking, setting up tents, campfires, smores, ghost stories, sleeping under the stars…you know this could actually be pretty fun!" Cheerilee smiled. "That's the idea! Oh please say you'll do it! The little dears really do need a confidence boost and I believe you're just the pony to do it. Um, just so long as you don't go overboard." She added with a weak grin.

Rainbow Dash waved her hoof in front of her. "Yeah, yeah yeah. Oh this is going to be awesome!"

"I'll speak to their parents and get them to sign onboard." Cheerilee nodded. "We have a week off coming up. Can you arrange to be away from work for that long?"

"Heh, no sweat. Hrm. I'm gonna check around to see if anypony else wants to come with me. You in?"

Cheerilee shook her head. "I'm afraid I have a teaching conference to attend in Fillydelphia during the break. Perhaps you could take one of your friends with you?"

"Sounds like an idea." Rainbow Dash nodded. "And I know just the pony to ask…I know she'll love to do it!"

"What do you mean you can't do it?" Rainbow Dash demanded.

"Just what ah said sugarcube." Applejack grunted as she bucked a tree, apples raining into a basket. "Ah've got to go to Appleloosa to help out cousin Braeburn. Seems they've got an infestation in their orchard. I gotta go make sure they stop it before it gets to Bloomberg and totally ruins the orchard."

"Awww, geeze!" Rainbow threw up her hooves as she hovered above Applejack. "This would've been so awesome! You and me, showing a bunch of kids how to be totally cool wilderness explorers, we could've found out which one of us was the better camping pony!"

"Pff. Hate tah break it to you honey, but ah think we both know who the best camping pony is." Applejack smirked.

"Oh yeah? Prove it!"

"Wish I could, but ah cain't. You're gonna have ta find somepony else. Why don't ya ask Twilight?"

"The Egghead? C'mon AJ, I want these kids to have some fun. Not to spend all their time doing camping 'by the book.' I'd probably go nuts myself."

Applejack chuckled, imagining Twilight in her outdoor explorer hat, flipping through the pages of Camping 101 looking for the by-the-book way to set up a tent and sleeping bag. "Okay, ah git what you mean. Ah suppose you wouldn't want to invite Rarity neither?"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and made a gagging noise. "Only if you want to make everypony there absolutely nuts! We'll be in the woods! The dirt will drive her crazy and her fussiness will drive ME crazy." She crossed her arms. "And don't even bother suggesting Fluttershy or Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy's way too timid to teach these kids confidence and she's busy with her animals anyway. And Pinkie's babysitting the Cake twins."

"Hmm." Applejack tossed her head back. "Seems ta me like you need to find somepony else then."

"Uh, duh AJ I *know* that! But I can't just bring anypony out camping for a week with me! I can't bring somepony who'll drive me nuts or won't be able to pull their own weight."

"Ah think ah know a feller." Applejack said as she started walking towards the farm.

"You do? Who is it?" Rainbow Dash hovered over her.

"A pony whose strong."

"Yeah?"

"A pony who can pull their own weight."

"Yeah!"

"A pony who's strong, dependable and knows a heap of stuff about how ta survive outdoors…."

Rainbow Dash darted down in front of her friend. "C'mon already Applejack, just tell me!"

AJ smiled and looked at something just over her friend's shoulder. Dash spun around. Pulling the plow through one of the fields was a big strong work pony, complete with a red coat, orange mane and a sprig of wheat between his teeth.

"Big Macintosh?" Dash exclaimed.

Hearing his name, Big Mac's ears twitched and he looked up. "Eeyup?" He asked as he shook himself free of his plow and walked over.

Rainbow Dash looked at her friend. "Your brother?"

"Eeyup!" Big Mac confirmed as he stopped alongside them.

"He's a camping expert?"

Applejack nodded and Big Macintosh confirmed with another "Eeyup."

Dash darted her eyes between the two siblings. "Aaand you think he'd be willing to take a group of foals camping for a week with me?"

"Eeyup!"

"….Does he ever say anything besides that?" Rainbow asked bitingly.

"Ee—" Big Mac opened his mouth but the glare from Rainbow Dash convinced him to just nod and chew his sprig.

Rainbow snorted but felt herself unwind a bit. "Well, all right then."

Applejack chuckled. "Have fun you two…don't be doin' anything ah wouldn't." She smirked. "And ah trust you'll return yer companion in the same condition that they left in?"

Big Macintosh frowned, almost insulted by the insinuation. "Eeyup!" He replied a bit more forcefully than usual.

Applejack didn't stop grinning. "Ah was talking to Rainbow."


	2. Chapter 2

"But I don't want to go on a dumb camping trip! Especially not with them!" Silver Spoon protested for the hundredth time to Cheerilee as she led her to where Rainbow Dash and Big Macintosh were assembling their campers before setting off for the Whitetail Woods.

"Now, Silver Spoon." Cheerilee looked at her. "I spoke with your parents about this and they thought it was a wonderful idea, especially since they had to leave town anyway to go on that business trip this week."

Silver Spoon pouted and looked away. "But why can't I just spend the week with Diamond Tiara? Why couldn't *she* come on this trip with me instead of, ugh, those *other* ponies?" She didn't quite dare call them blank flanks or losers in front of Cheerilee but her feelings on the subject were obvious.

The mauve pony gently smiled. "You can't always do everything with Diamond Tiara. You have to learn how to get along with other ponies and make new friends."

Sighing, Silver Spoon gave up. It was hard enough carrying the big pack she was wearing. Her supplies, sleeping bag, and other necessities had been purchased in the week leading up to the trip. Her back groaned under its weight as she regretted bringing quite so much stuff.

Cheerilee gave Silver Spoon a soft smile. "Silver Spoon." She gray filly looked up at her. "I think that if you give this trip, and your classmates, a chance I think you'll find that you can make the best of any situation. And you will be so much stronger for the experience. So please give it a try. For me?"

Silver Spoon gave a martyred sigh and mumbled a reluctant sounding "fine." The way Cheerilee smiled one would think that Silver Spoon and hopped around her in a circle chanting "yesyesyesyesyesyes." For Cheerilee, this was a start.

In one of the pointless ironic coincidences, Sweetie Belle was having an almost identical conversation with Rarity as they approached from the other side of town.

"But sis!" Sweetie Belle looked up pleadingly. "Me and the Crusaders had plans to spend this week looking for our cutie marks!"

"Well, you can still look for your cutie mark while you go on your little trip." Rarity said primly.

"But what about Apple Bloom and Scootaloo?"

"Sweetie, I know it's difficult, but you can't spend every moment with your friends any more than I can."

Sweetie kicked her hoof at the ground. "But it's so unfair! Apple Bloom's gonna be alone with Granny Smith since Applejack's in Appleloosa and Big Macintosh is coming on this trip with me!"

"She won't be alone. As you said, she has Granny Smith and she'll have Scootaloo. They can keep each other company." Rarity smiled.

"But what if they both get their cutie marks without me? W-what if I'm stuck being a blank flank all by myself? What if they decide they like it better without me and—"

"Sweetie Belle." Rarity pinned her little sister with her eyes. "Your friends are NOT about to forget about you just because you go on a trip for a week. Do you really believe Apple Bloom and Scootaloo think so little of you?"

Sweetie Belle's ears drooped as she lowered her head. "I—I dunno."

If Rarity had any doubts about the merits of this little camping foray—what with it being filled with *dirt* and all—they were dispelled then and there.

She gently placed her hoof underneath her sister's snout and pointed her face up. "Sweetie Belle, look at me." Sweetie looked up, her eyes moist and wavering. "You are a wonderful sister and a great friend. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom are extremely lucky to have you as a friend." Rarity laid her head across Sweetie's neck. "You're like a diamond in the rough: a beautiful little gem that just needs a little chiseling and polishing so that you can sparkle and shine for everypony to see. Your friends and family will always be there to help you, but there are times when you have to make an effort yourself to grow. No pony can do that for you. You need to see how special and wonderful you truly are. That's why your friends like to be with you."

Sweetie Belle sniffled, rubbing her face with her hoof. "O-okay Rarity." She squeaked.

Rarity gave her a hug. "Now come on. If we hurry we can stop by Sugarcube Corner and pick you up a cookie for being a good girl." Sweetie Belle gave a weak smile and seemed to perk up slightly.

Snails blinked slowly as he watched a little snail slowly oozing his way across a rock. He stared without moving a muscle, completely oblivious to the world around him. Snails started staring while waiting for something but had forgotten what he was waiting for. After what might've been a few seconds or a few minutes, Snails felt somepony tapping him with their hoof. "Um, what are you doing?"

Snails looked up to see Big Macintosh's big red face looking down at him curiously. Snails blinked once and then frowned in deep concentration. Then he remembered. "I'm watching the snail!" He said in his low, slow tone.

Big Macintosh nodded "Eeyup?" He prodded. Snails blinked. Then Big Macintosh blinked. Snails blinked back. An outside observer might have wondered if they were communicating via morse code.

The red stallion broke his gaze first. "You lookin' forward to having fun, pardner?" He said at last.

Snails gave a slow lanky nod. "I sure am!" Stretching out the 'sure' until it sounded more like 'suuuuuuuuuure.' He gave a goofy looking grin. "This is gonna be totally awesome!"

"Shore hope we kin live up to yer expectations." Big Mac nodded. "You ever been camping before?"

"…." Snails scratched his head as he thought about it. Then he nodded. "Nope!"

Big Macintosh quirked an eyebrow at the lanky young colt but said nothing.

Snails went back to watch the little snail makes his way across the rock.

From their home, a gray pegasus and her blue-gray unicorn filly walked to town square. The pegasus wore a sad smile, but daughter's face was full of dejection.

"But momma…" Dinky Doo rubbed her head against her mother's flank. "I don't want to go! I want to stay with you!"

"Muffin…" Ditzy's unfocused eyes teared up as she hugged her daughter fiercely. "Don't worry about me, I'll be just fine. You just worry about having fun and making friends, okay?"

"These are the ponies who make fun of me!" And you, she added silently.

Her mother nuzzled her mane. "It's okay, you'll have Auntie Rainbow and Mr. Macintosh to be with you. You'll have a fun week of camping and exploring and other good stuff. And what's more, you'll make friends your own age!"

"I don't want to make friends my own age!" She protested. "All the fillies and colts say bad things about you! I don't want to be friends with anypony that doesn't like my mommy!"

Ditzy sighed in equal measures of pride and sadness. "Muffin, you can't go through life without any friends, not for me."

"I have friends!" Dinky protested. "You and Auntie Carrot Top and your friend Raindrops and Auntie Rainbow Dash and Doctor Whooves—"

"Those are grown ups honey. You need to make friends your age: friends you can talk to about things you're going through." She wrapped a gray wing around Dinky who sniffed loudly. "I'm proud that you feel like you can be so open with me, but everypony needs friends who are their peers. I can't do that for you, be that for you."

Dinky looked up, her eyes wet. "Are you…sure you'll be okay?" Her voice cracked. She trembled.

"I will." Ditzy assured her.

"P-rromise?" Dinky hiccupped.

The pegasus smiled. "I promise I'll be fine. Don't worry about silly ol' mommy. And *you* promise to have fun, okay muffin?"

"Uh-huh."

"You promise to be a good little muffin for me?" Ditzy asked gently.

"Yes momma." Dinky promised.

"Because I'll know if you don't…" the gray mare smiled. "I see ALL!" She let her eyes spin in lazy circles, one clockwise the other counter-clockwise. Dinky giggled. Ditzy beamed. Perfect.

Pipsqueak wobbled under the weight of his enormous knapsack. The small pinto pony looked like a bag with tiny legs. "Want some help?" Looking up he saw a blue coated filly with purple eyes.

"Sure would!" He piped up with his Trottingham accented voice, sitting down to let her sort through his pack and rearrange its contents. "What's your name, miss?" Pip asked as he put his knapsack back on.

The filly giggled as she helped him adjust his pack to make it easier to carry. "I'm not a miss! My name's Archer. What's yours?"

"Pipsqueak at your service!" Pip nodded, giving a sort of half-bow that one would give to royalty. "But you can call me Pip if you want. Thank you so much for helping!"

Archer flushed, her hoof coming up to her mouth to hide a giggle. "Wow, you're a real gentlecolt aren't you?"

Pip scuffed the ground with his hoof as he looked away modestly. "Gosh, it's just how I was told to treat a nice filly."

"You think I'm nice?" Archer smiled. "Wait until you get to know me." She snickered as they both started walking to the center of town. "So you're going on the camping trip too?"

It was then that Pip noticed that she was also carrying a backpack. "Sure am! I bet it's gonna be loads of fun!"

"Same here. Do you know any of the other foals coming with us? I mean, they're in my class but I really don't know any of them." She admitted.

Pip thought. "Well, I only moved here recently from Trottingham. I spent time collecting candy on Nightmare Night with Sweetie Belle and her friends. But that's about it."

"Well, I guess we'll find out all about them by the time this week ends." Archer said brightly, but this was belied by the sickly grimace that she wore in place of a smile. She sighed. There were some ponies who were always being noticed, like Diamond Tiara's cute-ceañera or whatever the Cutie Mark Crusaders were up to. Nopony ever noticed her or invited her to anything.

If Pip noticed her melancholy mood, he didn't say anything about it. All he said was, "I bet we'll be great friends by the time we get back!"

Archer smiled. His good cheer was infectious. "Here's hoping! Oh look, we're here!"

The town square was full of little ponies: foals who were going on the trip and friends who wished they were. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were there, as was Snips and Diamond Tiara.

"Like I don't know HOW I'll manage without you to talk to." Tiara was saying to Silver Spoon, clapping her hoof dramatically to her face. "This town is just, SO boring. And to think you'll be stuck in the woods with a bunch of blank flanks and losers. I don't know how you'll be able to stand it!"

"Don't remind me." The gray pony muttered. "It's gonna be just awful without you, I know it!" She looked miserable. "Before I go, can we….?"

"Sure!" Diamond Tiara said. "Ready?"

"Bump! Bump! Sugar Lump Rump!" The two fillies called out as the bumped their hooves, then their knees and finally their rumps together.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes at the display. "Ugh, I don't know how you're gonna stand being stuck with Silver Snob all week." Her wings shuddered in disgust.

"M-maybe it won't be that bad…" Sweetie Belle said weakly.

Scootaloo snorted. "Yeah right." She crossed her hooves. "I don't get why SHE gets to spend a week camping with Rainbow Dash and I don't."

Sweetie Belle shrunk down on the ground. "I'm sorry Scoots, I didn't ask her to take me…"

"She knows that." Apple Bloom put in, nudging Scootaloo. "Ignore her. It'll be okay. Anyways, you'll be with Big Macintosh! He's the best!" She smiled, putting on a cheery face for Sweetie. "Why, ah'd be surprised if you didn't get yourself a camping cutie mark by the end of the week!" Sweetie Belle looked up.

"R-really?" She squeaked.

"I jest know it!"

Snips and Snails just stood next to each other, fidgeting slightly and not speaking. Snips was in a quandary. He was obviously going to miss his best friend but he was a guy. How can he express that he's strong yet sensitive, noble yet caring? Then his eyes gleamed as an idea came to him. Then Snips punched Snails in the shoulder with his hoof.

Snails blinked. "Ow."

Pause.

"Thanks Snips."

"All right my little campers, gather here please!" Cheerilee's sunny voice called out from next to Big Macintosh. As the six campers stood in a row she turned to the red pony. "Do you know where Rainbow Dash is?"

He shook his head. "Eenope."

"Oh dear, do you think she might have overslept? Perhaps we should—" A crack of lightning interrupted her thought and sent the foals squealing in shock. As one, everypony in the square looked up and saw a lone cloud hovering over it. Atop that cloud stood a familiar blue pegasus wearing a hat and had a whistle around her neck.

In one smooth motion she dove off the cloud and landed all four hooves on the ground at once, producing a loud CLACK!

"All right, listen up everypony!" Rainbow Dash marched up and down the row. "I am your Chief Head Awesome Counselor, Rainbow Dash! Some of you know me." She nodded to Dinky who looked up at her with wide eyes. "Some of you do not." Rainbow gave Silver Spoon a hooded look. "Either way, by the end of the week you and I will get to know each other very well. You might end up hating me. But that's fine with me." She stared down at the six young ponies standing before her. "This isn't a kiddy romp with your mommies and daddies. This will be grueling week-long challenge for survival against the wilderness! You're may be leaving as fillies and colts, but when you come back, you'll be mares and stallions!"

Big Macintosh and Cheerilee traded a strained glance. He cleared his throat.

"Hm? Oh yeah! This is Big Macintosh my Junior Co-Counselor."

"Junior?" Big Macintosh mumbled.

Rainbow Dash ignored him. "Now, Big Mac here will take a roll call. When he calls your name, let us know if you have any skills that can be of use camping. Oh and um, tell us something about yourself." She added when Cheerilee cleared her throat.

Big Macintosh consulted a checklist Cheerilee had made for him. He cleared his throat. "Archer?"

"Here!" The blue filly raised her hoof. "I'm Archer and I'm…good at archery." She shuffled awkwardly and looked down.

Rainbow Dash nodded. "Archery huh? That's pretty cool." Archer looked up and smiled. "Okay, glad to have you onboard. You can leave your sleeping bag with Big Macintosh. He'll carry the tents and sleeping gear.

The red workpony looked at Rainbow Dash as this had not been discussed before. He sighed and said "Eeyup." Archer dropped her sleeping bag at Big Mac's hooves and gathered the rest of her belonging back. He checked the list. "Dinky Doo?"

"I'm here!" Dinky hopped in place. "I'm Dinky Doo aaaaand I'm good at making muffins!"

"Sounds like we've got ourselves a cook." Rainbow Dash grinned. "Welcome to the most awesome camping trip you'll ever be on! Stow your stuff with Big Red and get ready to have the time of your life."

Macintosh snorted at the new nickname he had been bestowed with but said nothing but the next name on the list. "Pipsqueak?"

"Pipsqueak the camper, ready and waiting!" Pip saluted his counselors. "I brought a compass and I know all about the stars and constellations!"

Rainbow Dash returned his salute. "Sounds like you're a useful pony to keep around there Pip. You're in charge of the map!" The young colt beamed at the praise.

"Silver Spoon?" Big Mac called out.

"I'm here." Silver Spoon said, looking a bit uneasy. "I'm, um…I'm really fashionable!"

Rainbow Dash facehooved. How Cheerilee talked her into taking her along "…just, give Big Macintosh your stuff."

Big Macintosh tried his best in giving Silver Spoon a semblance of an encouraging smile, but since she was one of the fillies who routinely bullied his little sister, his best left much to be desired. Silver Spoon quickly ducked her head and dropped of her silver colored fancy looking sleeping bag. "Snails?" Big Mac drawled.

"…" Snails was tilting his head back, apparently looking at nothing. His eyes were glazed and unfocused.

"Snails?" Big Mac said again, a little louder.

"…."

"SNAILS!" Rainbow shouted. "Ten-HUT!" Snails head snapped back into place and gave a quick salute that ended up with him hitting his snout with his hoof.

"Oww….Here Miss Rainbow Dash counselor ma'am."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Spare me the ma'am stuff, kid. Now, you got anything you're good at?"

Snails blinked slowly. He thought about it.

Pause.

"…Well Snails?" Rainbow asked impatiently, hovering just off the ground.

"I'm fine, thanks." Snails nodded. There were a few snickers and giggles.

Rainbow felt her face twitch. "Have you thought about what you're good at?"

"…Oh yeah! I like snails!"

"Snails." Rainbow Dash repeated, deadpan.

"Yupperooni!"

"…still better than Silver Spoon." Dash muttered to herself. "NEXT!"

Big Macintosh got to the bottom of the list. "Sweetie Belle?"

Sweetie waved her hoof and jumped as if she was one in a throng of thousands. "Ooh, ooh here I am! I'm Sweetie Belle and I'm—" she took a deep breath. "A CUTIE MARK CRUSADER!"

Rainbow Dash and Big Mac leaned away as she belted out her announcement. "Whoa…" Rainbow thumped her ears, waiting for the ringing to die down. "Next time I need a cheering section I definitely know who I'm gonna call. You got any other skills?"

"Um, well, I'm good at sewing just like my big sister!" She proclaimed. "See? I even made the official Cutie Mark Crusader capes! I'm wearing mine now!" Sure enough, she was indeed wearing the red cape with a crudely stitched on blue shield with a golden pony.

Rarity felt a vein in her head throb at seeing her designer outfits and gowns compared with Sweetie's heartfelt but very amateur efforts.

"Hm, what else ya got?" Rainbow asked.

Sweetie looked down. "Um, I don't know…"

This got Rainbow Dash confused. "Hey, aren't you a great si—" She trailed off when she saw Rarity shake her head. Rainbow Dash couldn't simply tell Sweetie what her special talent was, not if Sweetie was to discover it for herself. "Never mind." The pegasus sighed. "Okay, looks like we've got ourselves a _pretty_ awesome group here. Could be more awesome, but hey, that's what this trip is for! Now, I'm gonna lead us out to Whitetail Woods. Big Mac will bring up the rear. Stay in a straight line and don't lose sight of the camper in front of you."

With a flap of her wings, Rainbow zoomed up and took point. "C'mon troops, follow me!"

"Bye Rarity!" Sweetie Belle waved to her sister as she started walking. "Goodbye Apple Bloom, goodbye Scootaloo! I'll miss you all!"

"Us too Sweetie!" Rarity waved a silk hanky from her hoof. "Have fun!"

"See ya buddy!" Snips called out to Snails.

"Good luck Silver Spoon! You'll need it!" Diamond Tiara said in what was meant to be a somewhat comforting send off.

Ditzy sniffled. "Goodbye muffin! Stay safe!" Rarity offered her the hanky. "Thank you…" HONK! The mailmare loudly blew her nose. She offered Rarity back the moist hanky, which Rarity generously let her keep.

Dinky waved as she started out too. "Bye momma!"

Big Macintosh gave Apple Bloom a hug. "Now you mind Granny Smith and take care of the farm 'til AJ and I git home."

"Yes Big Mac! You have fun!" The little filly hugged back.

"Eeyup." Big Macintosh grinned as he took his place at the end of the line of campers as they marched out of town.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hup-two, hup-two, keep up the pace ponies!" Rainbow Dash flew over the line of little ponies huffing and puffing as they marched through Whitetail Woods.

Silver Spoon was the first to complain. "My legs huuuuuurt!" She whined. "Can't we stop?"

While not liking Silver Spoon or her tone, other campers nodded in agreement and echoed her thoughts. "It's really hot out." Archer wiped a dirty hoof across her forehead.

"My coat's all sweaty." Sweetie Belle pouted. "And sticky!"

Rainbow Dash hovered above them. "Hey, hey no whining!"

"But I'm not whining, I'm complaining!" Sweetie pointed out. "Rarity, says that whining is—"

"NO!" Rainbow Dash held up her hooves. "None of that!" She shuddered. "Look, we've still got a ways to go before we can set up camp for the night. You know what makes marching easier?"

"Wings?" Silver Spoon muttered bitingly as she tried to repair her fraying braid.

"A good old fashioned marching song!" Rainbow smiled. "Nothing better to keep everypony marching in step and to get their blood pumping."

Pip hopped in place. "Wow, a real marching song! Like the Royal Guard sing?" He asked in awe.

"A song does sound nice." Sweetie admitted.

Archer nodded. "Well, if it distracts us from the heat, I'll try anything!"

"That's the spirit!" Rainbow nodded. "And this isn't just any boring old marching song, this is a song composed by yours truly!"

"Whoa…that means it must be awesome!" Snails nodded languidly.

"Go on Auntie Rainbow! Sing it, sing it!" Dinky pleaded.

Silver Spoon snorted. "Kiss up." She grumbled, just loud enough for Dinky to hear her. Dinky glared at her. But without further ado, Rainbow Dash launched into her self-proclaimed, epic marching song.

"Sha-nananananana-na-na-na! Goin' on an adventure! Sha-nananananana-nana-

na! Goin' on an adventure! C'mon everypony, sing with me now!"

Big Macintosh barely suppressed the impulse to facehoove himself.

The campers looked at each other and gave a raggedy, lackluster chorus of "sha-nanananas." Rainbow Dash looked disgusted.

"Is that the best you can do? C'mon I've heard Fluttershy sing louder than that!" She flapped her wings indignantly. Big Macintosh stepped forward.

"Maybe they should start with a simpler song?" He suggested. "Something nice an' easy?"

"Ugh, fine." Rainbow crossed her forelegs in a sulk. Kids these days…no appreciation for good music. "What do you have in mind?"

Big Mac shrugged. "Nuttin' fancy, just an' old tune mah pappy used to sing when he was working." He cleared his throat. "The Road goes ever on and on. Out from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, let others follow it who can…" Surprisingly, the big deep throated work horse had a powerful but smooth voice. The campers walked ahead in quiet awe, their faces transfixed by something only they could see; some vision given by Big Mac's song. Even Silver Spoon refrained from making any comments or sneers._  
><em>Rainbow Dash felt her jaw drop as she kept her eyes fixated on Big Macintosh's gentle singing. She was so distracted she flew straight into a tree. Sliding down the trunk, she collapsed into the bushes at the bottom of the tree as her campers and co-counselor marched on without her.

The camping party was still making its way through the Whitetail Woods. Rainbow Dash had rejoined them shortly after her unplanned stop and quickly zoomed back to the head of the group. They had sung another couple of songs before everypony stopped to rest their throats. It was late afternoon when tempers started to fray.

"Ugh!" Silver Spoon grunted as she bumped into the pony ahead of her when she stopped short. "Hey! Move it!"

Dinky Doo, who was the one in front of her, turned around. "I got a rock stuck in my hoof!" She wiggled her right front leg as she tried to shake it loose.

The gray filly glared at her. "Then move aside and let me go ahead!"

"Hey that's not nice!" Sweetie Belle, who was behind, Silver Spoon protested. "Why don't you actually try to help her?"

"Puh-lease!" Silver Spoon sniffed. "As if! It figures you two blank flanks would stick together! Stinky Doo and Sweaty Smell!"

Sweetie Belle glared at her. "You take that back!" She butted her face forward against Silver Spoon's face.

"Nu uh!" Silver pushed back.

"Then I'm gonna start calling you, um, Slither Goon!" Sweetie shouted.

"That's not even a thing!"

"It is too a thing!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is—"

"Stop!" The two girls turned to see Pipsqueak standing before them. He lowered his head. "I'm sorry, but could you girls please not fight? Aren't we supposed to be making friends?"

Silver Spoon looked over the top of her glasses at the diminutive pinto and was about to make some snide remark about his size or lack of a cutie mark (or both) when she stopped. The way his eyes, almost too large for his head, seemed to water as he pleaded with them. And his accent…Silver Spoon felt her face heat, dimly noticing a red flush across Sweetie Belle's pale white face as well. Her eats heated. Silver Spoon shook her head and backed away, mumbling something that MIGHT'VE been an apology.

Sweetie followed her as they continued on. That just left Dinky, who was staring with confusion at what had just happened. First somepony she didn't know had stood up for her, then another pony stopped a fight that seemed to be brewing and implored them all to be friends. What was going on?

Pip made his way over to Dinky. "Hello! You're Dinky right?"

"Y-yeah." Dinky nodded as she sat back on her rump. "And you're Pipsqueak?"

"Sure am! But you can call me Pip. Here, let me help you with that." Pip took his smaller hoof and gently started trying to pry that stone that was caught in Dinky's hoof. When that didn't work he leaned his face in and carefully closed his teeth around the errant rock.

Dinky felt herself shudder as Pip's warm breath wafted on her hoof and she couldn't figure out why she was flushing. After a moment of wiggling, Pip popped his head up with a rock between his teeth. "Ta da!" He mumbled before spitting the rock out to the side. "You okay?"

"Yeah…" Dinky said numbly. "Never better…" She blushed.

Pip was oblivious "Great! C'mon let's go catch up!"

Dinky blinked, her knees feeling all shaky and twitchy like Miss Pinkie Pie. Then she shook herself and called out. "Hey, wait for me!" She ran after him, laughing.

Silver Spoon sulked as she kept her head down on the march, trying to shut out the noise of Pip and Dinky laughing as they raced on ahead. "It's not fair." She grumbled. "Everypony's ganging up on me! I wish Diamond Tiara was here…then at least I'd have somepony to talk to on this dumb trip."

She gave a sad smile, imagining just what Diamond Tiara would say if she were here. "Like, what do you care if a bunch of dumb blank flanks stick together? Who needs them?"

That was Diamond all over. She was so strong and confident…Silver Spoon wished she could be more like her. After all, she came from one of the oldest families in town and everypony listened to her…why shouldn't she? At least Diamond Tiara noticed her. It was more than anypony else did—including her parents! Just going off on some dumb trip and leaving her to rot in the wilderness. If it weren't for Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon didn't know what she would do.

Besides, she and Diamond Tiara were BFFs! They had their own secret hoofshake! And it was waaay better than that lame club the blank flanks put together. They probably were just copying them. Silver Spoon nodded. Yeah, that was it. Sweetie Belle and her friends just copied what her and Diamond Tiara. What they had was special and those no-account blank flanks just stole it!

Lashing her braid like a coiled viper, Silver Spoon gave an unlady-like snort. Well, Diamond Tiara wouldn't let herself get all worked up over what the blank flanks were doing. Let them plot and plan and scheme, Silver Spoon didn't care! She didn't need them.

She didn't need anypony. "…Then why am I so upset?" Silver Spoon wondered as she rubbed her face, not wanting anypony to have the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

It was about a half hour later, just as the shadows were growing long, that Rainbow Dash came down from the air and called a halt to the march. "Okay sports! Fall in!" One by one, six little ponies and one big pony stood in a half circle around Rainbow. "All right, champs. See this?" She waved one wing at a small clearing. "This will be our campsite."

There were six relieved sighs as a half dozen tired fillies and colts slumped down on their rumps. Rainbow couldn't help but give a little smile. "Yeah, I know you're tired. You squirts did good today. But it's not bedtime yet. You've got to set up camp, pitch the tents, collect wood for the fire, refill the canteens…" A chorus of groans fill the air.

"Perhaps we should help them out this one time Miss Dash." Big Macintosh suggested.

"Hmm…" Rainbow thought about it. Then she shrugged her wings. "Okay, Big Mac will help you guys set up the tents and I'll show you guys the way to the river so next time you'll know what to do. But first thing's first." She gave Big Macintosh a nod as he started pawing around his saddle bag. Dash looked back to the group. "Each of you will be getting a hat and a whistle." As she spoke, Big Mac walked around, placing a baseball cap on each filly or colt's head and a whistle on a string that he put around their neck. "The whistle is in case any of you get lost. If you do get lost, don't run around. Stay where you are and whistle until someone finds you. And the hat is to show that you are an awesome camper." She smirked.

Dinky beamed as Big Macintosh put her hat on (with a special hole for her horn). "Neat!"

"So what do we do?" Pip asked, sounding excited.

Rainbow Dash nodded to Big Macintosh, who cleared his throat. "Ah need two of you to stay in camp and help me set up the tents. Any volunteers?"

"I'll help!" Pip raised his hoof immediately. Snails raised his too.

"All right then." Big Macintosh nodded. "Two of you will go with Miss Dash to the river to get fresh water for our canteens and for our dinner."

This time Dinky was first to raise her hoof. "Me! I wanna do it!"

"I'll help!" Sweetie Belle added.

"Next, I need somepony to gather some small branches for firewood."

Archer stepped forward. "I've got that."

"Good, stay in sight of camp though."

Silver Spoon looked around. "Well, it seems like that's everything. I guess I'll unroll my sleeping bag and…" Big Mac put a giant red hoof down in her path.

"Not so fast little lady. Ah need some pony to go fifty paces and dig us a trench."

"Dig? No way!" Silver Spoon shook her head. "Besides, what do we need a trench for?"

"Business." Big Macintosh answered.

"Huh?" Silver Spoon looked confused. So did one or two of the other ponies.

Big Macintosh sighed. "Ya might've noticed that we ain't in a place with running water. S'why we gotta fill up our canteens if we want a drink." Not seeing the message sinking in fast enough, he elaborated. "So since there ain't no bathrooms out here, you'll need a trench when nature calls."

"EWWWWW!" The campers squealed, Silver Spoon loudest of all. "There's no way I'm doing THAT!" She shrieked.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Then I hope you can hold it for a week. In the meantime, get digging."

"No!" Silver Spoon stomped her hoof. "That's gross! And besides, you can get any pony to dig! Make somepony else do it!"

The cyan pegasus narrowed her eyes, no give within her. "No way. You had a chance to volunteer sooner but you didn't because you hoped that you wouldn't have to do anything. Next time we're assigning camp jobs, you'll know better."

"You can't make me!" Silver Spoon protested. "One of the blank flanks can do it!"

Rainbow stomped her hoof against the ground. Hard. She snorted and flapped her wings in an expression of anger. Silver Spoon, sensing too late that she'd gone too far, crouched down low to the ground, trying to make herself smaller. "I don't want to hear you say that EVER again." Rainbow Dash ground out, keeping hold of her temper with all four hooves. "Now get this through your head kid. It doesn't matter who you are or who your parents are. Out here, I call the shots and I make the rules. And the rule is this: if you don't work, then you don't eat. I seriously doubt you wanna try your luck walking back to Ponyville." She tucked her wings aside and turned away from her. "You're stuck here for the next week, so you might as well try to make the best of it. You see these campers here?" She waved one wing demonstratively. "They're your only peers for miles. So maybe you're gonna want to make nice with them. Because if you're not willing to have THEIR back when things get rough, you can't count on them to have YOURS."

Silver Spoon sniffled, looking down at the ground in shame.

Rainbow Dash looked around at the silent campers. "What's everypony staring at? You know you've got jobs to do. Now let's hustle!" She took to the air and slowly started making her way to the river with Dinky and Sweetie Belle hurrying after her, laden with canteens and a cooking pot.

Pip and Snails started pulling out the tents, still wrapped around their poles. Pip was wobbling from side to side as he tried to carry one on his own. Big Mac gingerly picked up the pole, Pip and all, with his teeth with as little effort as another pony would use to pick up a quill.

"Whoa…" Pipsqueak's eyes were wide as he dangled in midair. "You must be the biggest, strongest pony ever!"

Big Mac gave a modest shrug as he walked over to a bare patch of ground that would be a good spot for a tent. He turned around to see Snails stuck headfirst in an unrolled sleeping bag and sighed.

Archer, left alone with the despondent Silver Spoon, gave her a gentle nudge with her snout. "Um, I guess that just leaves us. Want me to come with you?"

"Go away." Silver Spoon covered her head with her forelegs. "Leave me alone."

"C'mon, Silver Spoon, it'll be okay." Archer paused as Silver Spoon looked up.

The gray filly sighed. "…Fine. At least you're not a blank flank." With a disgusted look on her muzzle, she picked up a small shovel with her mouth and followed Archer as she collected small branches and twigs to put in her saddlebags for firewood. The blue pony worked in silence, not really knowing what to say or do. She may have been in the same class as Silver Spoon and the others, but she wasn't really part of any group and generally went unnoticed.

Silver Spoon, too tired to walk anymore, just started weakly digging at a spot on the ground. Archer walked around in a circle looking for more wood. Then she stopped behind Silver Spoon and asked, "Why do you care if other ponies have their cutie marks yet or not?"

Letting her shovel drop from her mouth, Silver Spoon turned around. "Well, duh! Having a cutie mark is important. If you don't have one it means that you totally don't have any talents, that you're not special!"

"No it doesn't!" Archer argued. "It just means that you haven't found your talent yet. It doesn't mean that a pony doesn't have any."

"Why do you care? You've *got* your cutie mark." Silver Spoon turned her head to look at it.

Archer looked back at her flank and examined her mark. "Yeah and I'm really proud of it! I was SO happy when I got it!"

"See?" Silver Spoon was smug.

"But that doesn't mean that I make fun of ponies who don't have their mark!" Archer exclaimed. "It's just not nice! Why would you want to be mean like that?"

"Mean? I'm not mean." Silver Spoon protested. "I'm just telling the truth!"

"So ponies who have their cutie marks are just better than ponies without them?" Archer inquired.

"Duh!"

"So, why don't you hang out with Snails more? He has HIS cutie mark." She pointed out.

"Guh, Snails? Oh come on he's such a dork!"

Archer rolled her eyes but let that pass. "Then I guess you can have a cutie mark and not be cool?"

"Totally!" Silver Spoon rolled her eyes.

"Then I guess you can have ponies who ARE cool but who DON'T have their cutie mark yet!" Archer exclaimed triumphantly, proud she remembered Miss Cheerilee's lesson on logical fallacies. Of course, she only barely managed to stay awake when she brought Miss Twilight Sparkle in as a guest speaker.

Silver Spoon's mouth opened but no sound came out. She looked at Archer as if she'd grown a second head. "T-that's not—No!" She stamped her hoof.

"What about that friend of yours, Diamond Tiara?" Archer pressed on. "Was she lame before she got her cutie mark?"

Now Silver Spoon looked appalled. "Of course not!"

"Were you?"

"I—I dunno!" The gray pony gave a shiver. "Please stop…"

"So what changed after you got your cutie mark?" Archer stepped forward. "Did you have a totally different ponyality or something? Did you grow wings or a horn?" Silver Spoon backed up until her rump hit a tree.

"I…I…"

"So what changed when you got your cutie mark?" Archer asked firmly.

"DIAMOND TIARA NOTICED ME!" Silver Spoon shouted as tears started trickling down her cheeks. "I HAD A FRIEND!" A dead silence reigned in the woods, broken only by Silver Spoon's sniffling.

"But…" Archer was confused. "You got your mark BEFORE Diamond Tiara did."

"Y-yeah." Silver Spoon sniffed. "A-and my parents were away when I got it. I didn't even get a cute-ceañera for another month when they came back! Diamond Tiara was the only one who—" sniff "—made me feel special when I got it."

"Aww, gee. I'm sorry." Archer moved close and leaned against her. "It's okay."

"No it's not!" Silver Spoon sniffed. "Diamond Tiara's not here and I'm all alone! All the ponies hate me—even the grown ups!"

"Well, I don't hate you." The blue coated filly gave a little smile. "And I think everypony else would like you too if you didn't act all…you know. Snobby and mean."

Silver Spoon shrunk down. "Sorry." She squeaked.

"S'okay, everypony makes mistakes." Archer shrugged and sat down next to her. "Feeling better?"

"I 'unno." Silver Spoon mumbled. Archer gave her a nudge.

"Just relax Spoony! I'll help you get used to this camping stuff and we'll make this fun! I promise!"

Silver Spoon looked up at her, her eyes shimmering. She opened her mouth but all she could get out was: "…Spoony?"

"What?" Her companion said defensively. "I think it's a pretty cool nickname! You got a problem with it?"

Shaking her head, the gray filly sputtered. "N-no of course not! Please don't be angry…"

Archer winked. "Relax silly filly, I was just kidding!"

"Oh." Silver Spoon giggled. It was actually a pretty cute sound when she wasn't trying to make her laughter sound insulting or demeaning. "Sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry for." Archer shrugged as they got to their hooves. Then she gave a sudden start and gulped as she looked at something behind Silver Spoon. "Except for one thing…"

"Yeah?" Silver Spoon gulped, looking where Archer's head was pointed.

"Sitting down next to a skunk's burrow!" She shrieked, pointing.

The two fillies whirled to see an annoyed looking black and white stripped skunk, its tail arced and pointing towards the two fillies. Their screams echoed through the woods.

"AAAAAAAIEEEEEEEEE!"


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Going to be out of town and away from my computer for a few days, so no more updates till I get back. Until then, please read and review! Enjoy!**

Back at the campsite Big Macintosh and his helpers had finished setting up camp while Rainbow Dash had returned with the water gatherers. Since Archer had taken her time in returning, Rainbow had gotten impatient and used her speed to gather enough pieces of wood to get a campfire going. Now they were all sitting around a blazing campfire on some logs Big Mac had dragged over to use as seats. They were all helping themselves to a big pot of beans and apple slices.

"Archer and Silver Spoon sure have been gone awhile." Big Mac drawled as he helped himself to another spoonful.

Rainbow Dash shrugged her wings as she simply stuck her muzzle into her bowl. "Eh, I guess the Silver priss is dragging her hooves digging."

"Hmm, think you were too hard on 'er?"

"Nah. She's been spoiled enough." Rainbow slurped noisily. "Why, do you think I was?" Macintosh shrugged. "What? No eeyup or eenope?" She teased.

"Ah suppose not." He returned evenly. "Never had a problem like that with Apple Bloom."

Rainbow Dash nodded. "Yeah, Apple Bloom's pretty cool. She must take after Granny Smith."

That earned a startled snort from the large stallion. "Yer something else Miss Dash."

"I try." She batted her eyes in a totally un-Rainbow manner. "And what's with the Miss stuff? I'm not a miss!"

"So AJ says." He drawled, deadpan.

"Yeah, I—HEY!" She protested angrily. Big Mac chuckled. Rainbow punched him in the shoulder. Hard.

Macintosh raised one eyebrow. "Ow." He said conversationally. Rainbow pulled her hoof back and winced.

"Geeze, what are they feeding you on that farm?"

"A diet of hard work and apples." Big Macintosh replied. Rainbow Dash took another look at her bowl full of beans and apples and scarfed it down in one gulp. "Landsakes." He said in no small amazement. "You sure can pack them vittles away. How is it yer so skinny?"

Rainbow looked annoyed. "I'm not skinny—I'm a lean, mean flying machine! I've always had a fast metabo-whatsit and I'm always working out! Aw yeah!" She flexed her right foreleg. "Feel that!"

"A beg yer pardon?" Big Macintosh looked at her sidewise. "Ah wasn't raised to be inappropriate with a lady…" Rainbow brought her face up close until she was staring him eye to eye. Narrow, fierce looking magenta colored orbs against wide, surprised green ones.

"I said, feel that!" Rainbow Dash ground out between clenched teeth.

Surprised and not *quite* intimidated, Big Mac did what he was told. He brought one hoof under her leg as he gently pressed down with another. The red stallion quirked a brow in surprise at the wiry, sinewy firmness he felt. He knew that she was athletic, but always thought of her as being more like a hummingbird than a pony: very fast and very agile, but didn't have a whole lot of muscle on the bone. Even her competition against his sister in the Iron Pony didn't change that view of her. Actually, given the fact that she used her wings to cheat her way to victory for the latter half of the competition gave Big Mac the impression that she was just a loud pegasus whose mouth made promises her body couldn't keep.

"Um helloooo? Anypony home?" Big Macintosh shook his head, realizing that he'd been holding her leg for a while. He flushed and quickly let go.

He coughed. "Yes, erm, mighty impressive ma'am."

The pegasus rolled her eyes. "Again with the ma'am stuff? You're hopeless. But yeah, I am something, aren't I?" She preened. Then her face turned serious and she looked almost…sheepish? "I guess I never said thank you for agreeing to help me with this camping trip. Er, not that I needed the help!" She waved her hooves hurriedly. "I mean, I'm sure I could've done this on my own." She added quickly. "But it's going much better with you. So, um, yeah thanks."

"Ah shucks, t'aint nothin'. Yer welcome anyway Miss Dash." Big Mac nodded. "Might appreciative of this. Feels nice to go out campin' again."

"What, did you used to be a Colt Scout or something?"

Big Macintosh grinned. "Eeyup."

Rainbow blinked. Then she facehooved. "Walked into that one." She chuckled. "Never knew you had a sense of humor big guy. Actually, now that I think about it I knew almost nothing about you. You were always just the big quiet guy behind Applejack."

He shrugged his massive shoulders. "Not much to tell really. I'm just a simple apple farmer." Big Macintosh wasn't being modest or self-effacing or self-pitying. He was just speaking the plain simple truth as he saw it, as was his wont.

Rainbow Dash scrunched her muzzle. "I don't buy that." Big Mac blinked. "Not for a second."

Frowning, Big Macintosh snorted. "I ain't a liar, Miss Dash."

"I didn't say you were!" She said angrily. "Don't you go accusing me of something I didn't even do!"

Feeling himself get het up Big Mac took a deep breath and slowly released it. "…Yer right. Mah apologies, Rainbow."

"Yeah and a good thing—wait. You called me Rainbow." She noticed.

Pause. "Suppose ah did." Big Mac admitted, staring into the warmth of the campfire's glow.

"Oh." Was all Rainbow Dash said, looking down. Then she scuffed her hoof in the dirt and raised her head back up. "Look, Mac…"

The big stallion raised his head back to face hers, his face warm. The effect of the fire, surely. "What's that Rainbow?"

"I just…." The normally loud and brash pegasus was being unwontedly quiet and unassuming. "Well, I wanted to say…that…" She exhaled softly. Then her face contorted as she took a sniff of the air. Rainbow snorted and pawed at her nostrils with her hoof. "Eeeeeeeewww!" she coughed. "Oh geeze, Big Mac! Was that you? I think you've had enough beans!"

"Excuse me?" Big Macintosh looked at her crossly.

"Dude, you're excused just don't do that again. I'm sitting right next to you!"

"That tweren't me Miss Dash." Big Mac said in a flat, annoyed tone.

"Then who—ack, oh Celestia!" Rainbow Dash started to gag. Then Big Macintosh started to cough as the other campers starting waving their hooves in front of their faces and squealing in disgust.

They turned to see Archer and Silver Spoon walking out of the trees, both wearing hangdog expressions and looking sheepish. "We, um, had a run in with a skunk…" Archer rubbed the back of her head with her hoof, looking down as she blushed.

"Smells like you ran into a skunk convention." Rainbow tried holding her nose. "Ugh, you two need to take a bath. Head down to the river and rinse off. Downstream."

"W-will that get rid of the smell?" Silver Spoon asked her face red as she heard snickers and giggles.

"I dunno…I think we need grape juice or something." Rainbow tapped her muzzle.

"That's tomato soup." Big Mac corrected. "But ah got something better than that." He reached around and took something out of his saddlebags. "Miss Zecora made these after Winona got too curious about a family of skunks living neat Miss Fluttershy's cottage." He pulled out two bars of soap, each with a rope embedded inside it for easy holding. "She said t'work in into a lather and it'll get rid of the smell faster than AJ can corral a hog."

Rainbow looked incredulous. "Zecora said THAT?"

"Okay, maybe not but you git the idea." He gave Rainbow the soap bars. "Why don't you take one of the fillies down to help you out? It'd get it done faster."

"But I—oh, fine." Dash groaned. "Sweetie Belle, come with me. The faster we get this done, the faster I can stop breathing through my mouth."

Sweetie Belle stood up and followed Rainbow Dash, the two of them making sure to walk in front of Archer and Silver Spoon.

Silver Spoon bowed her head as she hoped that if she didn't pay attention to anything, nopony would pay attention to her.

"Heh, so I guess you're the one that smells now, huh?" Sweetie Belle snickered. Silver Spoon sighed. So much for THAT hope. She looked up to see that Sweetie Belle had dropped back a bit behind Rainbow Dash so they could talk. "What was it you were calling me and Dinky earlier? Sweaty Smell and Stinky?"

"Just go away." The morose silver filly muttered.

Archer approached the two of them. "C'mon you two, please don't start that again."

Sweetie Belle pointed a hoof accusingly at Silver Spoon. "She's the one that started it!" Silver Spoon looked away.

Archer sighed. "I know but…look, she's had a long day and it's been kinda rough. Just give her a little room okay?"

"Well…" Sweetie looked confused to seeing somepony standing up for Silver Spoon and sounding so reasonable about it. "Do you promise to stop making fun of me?" She demanded of her.

Silver Spoon nodded and said quietly. "I promise."

Not expecting an answer, and one that sounded remarkably sincere and non-sarcastic or nasty, Sweetie Belle just blinked. "Well, um, okay!" While not quite falling into step with the two skunk-sprayed fillies, she did walk close enough so they could talk. "So Archer…"

"Yeah?" The blue filly returned.

"You're um, good at archery?" Sweetie asked with a little squeak in her voice.

"Yeah, it is my cutie mark after all." She nodded. "Why?"

Sweetie bit her lip. "Well, how did you know it would be your special talent?" She looked at her own bare flank sadly.

"I really didn't." Archer admitted. "It's not like I woke up one day and just KNEW that it was my special talent."

Sweetie hopped in place. "So how *did* you get your cutie mark?"

Archer scuffed the ground. "There isn't really much to tell…"

"Pleeeease?" Sweetie Belle entreated.

Archer made the mistake of looking over at Sweetie Belle and her big wavering light green eyes and full-lipped pout. She groaned and looked to Silver Spoon for support, only to find that she was looking at her curiously too.

"Oh, all right!" She gave up with a sigh. "Well, my dad's really into those fairs and carnivals where you dress up like ponies did a long time ago? You know, the kind with knights and all that stuff? He started bringing me when I was young and watched him joust against other ponies. It looked like fun, so I decided I'd try to get into the fair stuff too. There was this place that taught archery and I tried out." She looked at her audience to find them staring enrapt at her. Archer, flushed, unused to the attention and hurried on.

"A-anyway, I was pretty good so I started practicing at the fairs and after school. Then for my birthday my dad got me my very own bow and arrows and signed me up for a contest at the next festival. I was really nervous but then I got a perfect bullseye in the final round and won the contest!" She smiled, remembering back. "Dad was sooo proud of me! Then I felt really good and well, that's when my cutie mark showed up."

"Whoa…" Sweetie Belle said in awe as Silver Spoon stopped and clapped her hooves softly. Archer blushed.

"Aww, c'mon you guys…it's nothing that special."

"Are you kidding?" Sweetie's voice cracked. "That was so cool!"

"I-I like those festivals too." Silver Spoon admitted hesitantly. "I like dressing up as a princess."

"HEY!" The three fillies turned to see Rainbow Dash with her forelegs crossed and tapping her hoof impatiently, despite hovering over the ground. "We're here."

Sure enough, they were in sight of the river. Rainbow and Big Mac made sure to make camp close enough to one so they'd always have a fresh supply of water. It was growing dark as night started to fall.

Rainbow tossed one bar of soap to Sweetie Belle. "Okay squirts, into the river."

Silver Spoon dipped her hoof into the river and shivered. "It's cold."

"Well, better get a move on then. Since we don't have hot and cold running rivers, we take what we can get." Rainbow said unsympathetically. "Besides, it's only gonna get colder the longer we wait and it gets darker and colder out."

Sweetie Belle nudged Silver Spoon gently with her horn. "It's okay, see?" She waded into the water. A shiver ran up her spine and made her coat start to stand on end but she kept her smile plastered on, despite the shiver in her voice. "N-not that cold."

Silver Spoon looked over at Archer, who only nodded encouragingly. Taking a deep breath, Silver removed her glasses and unfastened her necklace, leaving them on a flat rock by the river. Squinting, she made her way over to the white blur that used to be Sweetie Belle.

Archer climbed into the river and sat down. Rainbow Dash abruptly stopped flapping and let herself flop into the river, dowsing all three fillies at once. High pitched shrieks rang in Rainbow's ears as she surfaced, shivering slightly. "Better to get it over with at once than to inch your way into it." She said brazenly, despite the cold tremor that ran through her wings. "I'll help Archer. Sweetie Belle, you're with Silver Spoon. And I don't want to hear any complaining."

"Okay." The two fillies chorused, one more sullenly than the other. Rainbow blinked, not expecting such easy compliance.

"…Good!" She started lathering up Zecora's special soap as she started scrubbing Archer's back.

"It's okay," Sweetie assured Silver Spoon. "I've got lots of practice of washing stuff out of your coat. Mostly tree sap. Don't ask." Silver Spoon looked at her curiously then started to rub some water out of her eyes. Then she started to undo her already frayed and sopping wet braid. She tossed her hair back, shaking her unleashed mane free. "Wow…" Sweetie said.

"What?" Silver frowned. "What is it?

"You're really pretty!" Sweetie blurted out, before slapping her hoof over her mouth and flushing. "I mean, you have really nice hair…and your eyes are a nice color too."

Silver Spoon, caught off guard, flushed also. "R-really?" She wasn't unused to hearing such things from her parents, their friends or from Diamond Tiara or ponies trying to get invitations to her parties, but this was the first time somepony like Sweetie Belle had given her a real compliment. And Silver Spoon wasn't even wearing fancy clothes or her necklace or anything!

"Yeah!" Sweetie nodded. "I mean, you're so nice looking…but then you act so mean." She gave a small pout. "Why do you hate me and my friends?"

"I—I don't HATE you…" Silver said softly.

"But you're always making fun of us!" Sweetie Belle pointed out. "It's not nice, and it's not right!"

Silver Spoon tried to sink beneath the water, but being in the shallows, that was impossible. "I'm…I…I dunno. I'm sorry." She said shamefully, her face tilted down. A small tear ran its way down her cheek and off the tip of her snout, landing in the river with a faint drop.

Sweetie patted her back. "It's…it's okay. Just try to be nicer, all right?" When she didn't get a reply, she started gently rubbing the special soap on Silver Spoon's back. The silver filly didn't react. "Hey Silver Spoon?"

"…What?" She mumbled quietly.

"Can…can you tell me how you got YOUR cutie mark?" Sweetie asked softly.

"I don't think so…"

"Please?" Sweetie asked gently. "I won't tell nopony if you don't want me to. I'll even Pinkie Promise!"

"But…"

"Come on!" The white unicorn entreated as she brushed the soap along Silver Spoon's sides. Silver let out a startled squeak. Sweetie Belle's eyes lit up. "Oh, are you ticklish?" She brushed the lathery soap along Silver's ribs. She shuddered, sitting down in the river and shook her head.

"N-no!"

"You're lying!" Sweetie grinned as she started rubbing the soap across Silver Spoon's belly, making her giggle.

"Q-quit it!" Silver giggled.

"Tell me about your cutie mark and I will!" Sweetie smiled.

Silver whined. "N-no fahahair!"

"Well, if that's the way you feel…." Sweetie Belle started scrubbing faster against Silver Spoon's belly until she was let out peals of squealing laughter.

"Hahahaeheheek! Stahahappit!" Heeheeek! Okahay! I'll tell, I'll tell!" Silver pleaded.

"I thought so!" Sweetie giggled as she stopped, letting Silver Spoon catch her breath. "So go on! Tell me!"

"A-all right already!" Silver hugged her belly. "Just, promise you won't do anymore of that."

"I promise." Sweetie made the sign of the Pinkie Pie promise as she started scrubbing Silver Spoon's neck. "Come on now, quit stalling."

The rich filly sighed. "Fine…I was at home. My parents were away on some business trip and I was left home with a nanny. Then one night after the nanny fell asleep I got bored and started wandering through the house, even into my father's study where I wasn't allowed to go." She shut her eyes, as much to avoid the sting of soap as she washed her face as much as to relive the memories. "Inside was this big painting. It was my family tree."

"Your family has its own tree?" Sweetie asked, confused. "Like an apple tree or something?"

Silver Spoon explained. "No, it's like that project Miss Cheerilee made us do when she made us draw that chart of our family? That's a family tree."

"Ohhh." The unicorn nodded. "Gotcha."

"Anyway, this wasn't like our little charts. This was big! And beautiful! It had all my relatives and ancestors and their relatives going back like, forever! And then I looked down at the bottom and I saw my name…and I realized that I was part of his big, important grand old family. And even if my parents weren't always around, I knew I had this great big family that cared about me." Silver smiled weakly. "It—it made me happy to think that somewhere in some other part of Equestria, one of my cousins or second-cousins might be looking at this same family tree and would see my name there, and know I exist."

"Wow." Sweetie Belle's eyes were wide with unabashed amazement as she dropped the soap in the river. "And here I thought you were just good at eating!" She started to fish around for the soap.

"Well, my mom says I have a very advanced palate and…hey! Are you calling me fat?" Silver Spoon demanded, whirling around.

Sweetie Belle shook her head. "No."

Silver looked abashed. "Oh…good."

"Are you sensitive about your weight, Spoony?" Sweetie teased gently.

"You take that back!" Silver Spoon shot back.

"What? The part about your weight or calling you Spoony?" Sweetie giggled. Then she let out a shriek when Silver splashed her. "Oh, it IS on!" She splashed back.

Half-turning away from the splash, Silver giggled and retaliated, escalating it into a splash war.

Silver Spoon smacked down both her front hooves at once. Sweetie ducked. Rainbow Dash bolted up in the air as icy cold water suddenly splattered on her back. "HEY!" Her voice cracked as she flapped her wings to keep herself airborne, shaking herself off.

"Oops. Sorry Rainbow Dash." Sweetie Belle shrunk down sheepishly.

"Yeah, sorry." Silver Spoon echoed.

Rainbow cleared her throat. "Well, good." She said, glad to hear her voice was even and cool. Archer giggled, though at whom she didn't quite know. "You two finished?"

"Yup!" Sweetie Belle beamed. "All clean! And she doesn't stink anymore!"

"Heeey…" came the weak, inevitable protest.

Rainbow Dash ignored it. She looked around. "Looks like we're done here then. Grab your stuff and let's head back to camp."

Silver Spoon fumbled putting her glasses back on and had started to reach for her necklace when she saw that Sweetie Belle had already picked it up and was holding it out. "Here, let me help." After a moment, Silver nodded and turned around. She raised her mane out of the way so Sweetie Belle could slip the necklace around her neck and fasten it without getting her hair caught in it. "There, done!" Sweetie announced.

"Thanks." Silver said softly as she turned around. "For everything, I mean."

"It's okay!" Sweetie smiled, living up to her name. "Come on, I bet they'll let us roast marshmallows when we get back!"

"That sounds good. But where would we get a twig big enough to stick you on?"

"Huh?" Sweetie Belle blinked then frowned as it sunk in. "Heeey, are you calling me a marshmallow?

"Maaaybe." Silver Spoon smirked as she galloped ahead.

"Get back here!" Sweetie laughed as she chased after her.

Archer grinned. "Wait for me!"

Meanwhile, back at the campsite, the other three campers and Big Mac were just finishing up their dinner. The stars had come out in radiant clarity, the only light for miles being the small campfire.

Dinky, Snails, Pip and Big Mac were all lying on their backs as they stared up at the crystal studded sky. "Oh wow…" Dinky said in amazement. "I've never seen so many stars before in my life!"

"That's on account of all the lights in Ponyville." Big Macintosh explained. "Even at night there are enough lights for a pony to see where they're going that it blots out the stars. But when you git out away from all that, the stars seem to shine a little brighter."

"Whoa…" Snails eyes were wide. "There's like, a million billion stars!"

"Maybe pardner." Macintosh agreed. "One time I went stargazing with mah cousin Braeburn out in Appleloosa…seein' the stars out on the plains was one of the most amazing things ah ever did see."

Then Pip started pointing out the constellations. "That one there is Taurus the bull! And over there is the Great Dragon, Draco!"

Dinky listened on intently in silence as he pointed out all the stars to her. She couldn't contain her excitement as her tail swished from side to side. "_I made a friend!_" The young filly squealed in her mind, barely repressing a giggle. And it was only her first day! Pip was so much fun to be around. "You must know about every star in the sky!" She gushed.

Pip was glad for the reddish glow of the fire, for it masked the blush that crossed his face. "Aww, I don't really…" He said modestly, rubbing his neck. "I just read a lot of Miss Twilight's books." Pipsqueak gave a small grin. "Sailors can navigate their ships and always know where they are just by knowing the location of the stars."

"Wow." Dinky said, impressed. She looked to the pony lying to her left. "…What do you think Snails?"

Snails looked at them, idly munching on a last apple slice. He swallowed then opened his mouth to say, "…urrrp! Pardon me." Snails drawled. Pip laughed.

"_Boys_." Dinky thought to herself, but she giggled too.

"This is great!" Pip said as he wiggled to get more comfortable, drawing closer to Dinky. "I haven't had so much fun since Nightmare Night!"

"That was a lot of fun!" Dinky giggled, remembering Pip in his cute little pirate costume…wait, cute? She blushed.

Pip leaned up and looked over at Snails. "What do you like to do?" He asked him.

Snails lifted his head up without having to adjust his body much, which put Dinky and Pip in the mind of a giraffe. "I like snails." He said simply.

Dinky made a face. "Ewww! Gross!" She said without thinking. Snails looked like a kicked puppy.

"But I like snails…" He said sadly, his ears flattened against his head.

Dinky shrunk down, feeling awful. Snails sounded just like her mom did whenever someone made fun of her for liking muffins so much. She felt herself flush in shame. "I'm sorry." She apologized. "C-could you tell me why you like snails?"

Snails scrunched up his face. Dinky expected him to say something about Snails being his name or his cutie mark. Instead he seemed to chew on his thoughts, as if struggling with his words. "Snails don't go fast." He said, groping for the right words. "But they always get where their going. It's like nothing can stop them!" Snails gave a goofy grin. "They make me feel happy."

Dinky patted his shoulder. "I understand." She said. "I think that's really neat."

"Me too! I think snails are cool!" Pip agreed.

"Aww, thanks." Snails gave his famous grin. He looked around. "I wonder when Rainbow Dash is coming back. She's awesome!"

Pip and Dinky nodded in agreement. "She sure is!" Pip said. "She was almost as scary as Princess Luna on Nightmare Night!"

"And she's friends with my mom!" Dinky smiled. "She tries to help mom fly better so she won't have anymore accidents."

Snails beamed adoringly. "I like Rainbow Dash cuz she's the awesomest and the coolest and the fastest!"

Dinky giggled at Snail's rather obvious crush. It was cute. Just then Rainbow Dash turned up with Archer, Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle in tow. "Okay time for marshmallows!"

"Yay!" Everypony cheered as they held out sticks with delicious gooey goodness on the end. Rainbow Dash smirked as she used a branch with a half dozen smaller twigs to roast six marshmallows at once. Big Macintosh, by contrast, looked almost comical holding a tiny little twig with a single marshmallow on it.

The young ponies laughed and told jokes. Even Silver Spoon cracked the occasional smile as she sat surrounded by Sweetie Belle and Archer. Rainbow Dash led them all in a sing-along of a song she wrote extolling her own (numerous) virtues. It was a lot of fun for the fillies and colts since Rainbow kept changing the chorus.

Finally, exhausted after their long day, the six ponies and their two counselors retired to their tents. Big Macintosh climbed into his massive tent, tastefully decorated with an apple motif. Rainbow's tent by contrast was bright blue and adorned with a giant picture of her cutie mark on either side, complete with a rainbow colored pennant at the top. There were three tents for the campers, one for Pipsqueak and Snails, one for Sweetie Belle and Dinky, and one for Silver Spoon and Archer.

As the final wisps of smoke faded away from the doused campfire, eight tired ponies quickly fell into pleasant dreams, exhausted from their long day.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Looks like I managed to squeeze out another short chapter before my trip tomorrow. I look forward to coming back to read your reviews! See ya!**

Given how tired the six little ponies were and Rainbow Dash's propensity for napping, it didn't surprise Big Macintosh much that he was the first one awake: right at the crack of dawn. He knew he could go back to bed and get another hour or two of sleep, but decided instead that he'd get started on breakfast.

Big Mac had just finished heating a pot of water to a boil and adding this morning's breakfast when he heard the rustle of a tent flap being pulled back.

Snails poked his head out, blinking once. He yawned. "Ooh, is that oatmeal ay?" he sniffed when he was finished.

"Eeyup. Have a seat. Should be ready soon."

"Yum!" Snails joined Big Macintosh by the campfire. He stared blankly at the pot for a few minutes in silence before he turned his head. "Uh, Mr. Macintosh?"

"Y'all can just call me Big Mac." He gave the small colt a small smile. "What's up pardner?"

"…Do you think I'm dumb?" Snails piped up suddenly.

Macintosh blinked, his sprig of wheat almost falling out of his mouth. "Now what in tarnation made you ask a thing like that?"

The colt sighed morosely as he looked down. "I dunno…lots of ponies think I talk funny…that I don't always make sense."

"Snails, that ain't got nothing to do with anything." Big Mac said, inadvertedly proving his case right there. "Ponies talk the way they talk. Nothing wrong with sounding different. Applejack's friend Pinkie Pie talks like a squirrel that got into the coffee, spouting all kinds of stuff that don't make even a lick of sense. She's not dumb, she's just…Pinkie. Miss Twilight loves using alliterations and big words that nopony understands and you know she shore ain't dumb." He nudged Snails. "And yer friend Twist got herself a lisp and Miss Fluttershy, she's quieter than a mouse. And Dinky's mom Ditzy's got her own peculiar kind of speech. Shoot, lotsa ponies think ah can't say a thing beyond 'eeyup' and 'eenope' because I'm quiet and tend to talk kinda sloooooow." He drew out the last word and was rewarded when Snails grinned. "That's just the way of it. No, ah don't think yer dumb. In fact, I know you're not. A right bit silly sometimes," he said with a kind smile. "But that's all right. Everypony act's silly at some point or other." Carefully, aware of his large powerful hooves, he gently mussed Snails' mane and gave him a noogie.

"Heh heh, heeeeey!" Snails wiggled away, looking much happier. "Thanks Big Mac!"

"Anytime little pardner." Macintosh looked around and started to see the other campers starting to stir themselves. They would get up, yawn, and rubbing their eyes, stumble blurrily out of their tents. A certain cyan pegasus however, was notable in her absence. "Snails, would you mind waking Miss Dash up?"

Snails saluted. "Sure thing boss!" He knocked at the flap of Rainbow's tent and waited. Then, after he noticed that knocking on a tent flap really didn't produce any noise, he stuck his head in. "Hellooo?" Inside was a blue sleeping bag being occupied by one prismatic-maned pegasus who was soaring the skies of slumberland. Her only response to snails was to snuggle her head closer to her pillow and sigh.

Unable to help himself, Snails crept in and watched her sleep. The colt felt a little tremor run up his hooves as he gave a delighted little hop. He was watching Rainbow Dash sleep! His hero, the most awesomely super cool pegasus ever! Snails walked around to where Rainbow's head rested on her pillow. He looked down. She was so beautiful.

Rainbow Dash stirred. "You're…SNRK…awfully cute too." She mumbled. Snails blushed. He didn't realize he'd said that last part aloud!

Frozen, Snails was still staring at her when Rainbow Dash cracked one tired eye up and saw an upside down, close view of Snails' face as her first sight in the morning. "AAaah!" Rainbow flailed as she suddenly awoke. "SNAILS!"

"Um, good morning Rainbow Dash!" He gave what he imagined was his most charming grin. "Breakfast is ready?" He shrugged sheepishly.

"Remember Pinkie Pie's oatmeal story?" Sweetie Belle asked Dinky as they ate their breakfast. The two fillies giggled.

"There was so much oatmeal that mommy had oatmeal muffins for a week!" Dinky remembered, grinning.

Sweetie Belle looked around. "I wonder what we're going to do today. Bird watching?"

"Maybe we'll go foraging for berries and stuff."

"Or maybe we'll go hiking up a mountain." Sweetie suggested, getting excited at the possibilities.

"Or rafting down the river!" Dinky exclaimed.

"Bungee jumping off a cliff!"

"Exploring caves!"

"What about—" Sweetie started to suggest another idea but all that came out was a sudden "UuuuuuurAAAP!" She clapped a hoof to her mouth. "Oops!" She flushed.

Chuckles ran around the campfire. "Nice one Sweetie!" Rainbow Dash beamed proudly. "Not as a good as me, but for a little pony like you that was pretty good! Heh, I guess you really can belt them out."

"Um, thanks?" Sweetie Belle squeaked, embarrassed but oddly buoyed by the praise.

Rainbow tapped the side of her head with her hoof in thought. "In fact…" Her eyes lit up. "You've just given me an *awesome* idea! Burping contest! Now!"

Big Macintosh looked at her cock-eyed. "Really, ah don't think—"

"Aah, stop being such a stick in the mud." Rainbow waved his incipient objection aside. "Winner gets a special prize and gets to be one of the two team captains for today's activity!"

A clamor of excited questions bombarded her. "What activity?" "What's the prize?" "What are we doing?" "Do you have pudding?"

Rainbow Dash held up her hooves and extended her wings, smirking. "Now now. It's a surprise!" She winked. "Sweetie already went, so let's hear the rest of you give it your best! Who wants to go next?"

The little ponies gave a cheer as they lined up to compete. Well, most of them. Rainbow listened to the little ponies give it their best, giving only a short comment here or there after each effort. "Awesome." "Not awesome." "Could be more awesome." "Oh yeah, totally awesome!"

Rainbow took notes and kept score on a camper's checklist she only took because Twilight insisted. Sweetie Belle's score was impressive. Dash thought it had something to do with all the practicing she did with her lungs. If she never got a singing cutie mark then perhaps a belching one could be in her future. Dinky and Archer gave a commendable effort but Pipsqueak's was pretty pathetic. Rainbow had to dock major points. His was at Fluttershy-level volumes. Snails did pretty well, she had to admit. He seemed really pleased at her praise. She liked his spunk, if not his method of saying good morning.

That just left…"Silver Spoon, you're up!" The rich filly looked down.

"Ugh, that's just gross!" She wiggled her snout. "I'll pass thanks."

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "No way, sport. Performance is mandatory. Come on, let's hear it."

Silver kept her eyes on her hooves. "But…"

"You can do it Silver Spoon!" Archer encouraged.

"Yeah, just do your best! Sweetie hopped. Silver Spoon bit her lip. She looked around at the encouraging looks on the other campers' faces and sighed.

"Fine…" Silver gave a martyred sigh and took a deep breath. The others kept up their encouragement as her stomach rumbled. And then she let out with a mighty, "BRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAWWWP!"

Dead silence reigned for a moment. Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped. Big Macintosh dropped his wheat sprig. A coppery blush spread across Silver's cheeks. "Um, excuse me?" She said meekly.

Another beat. Then wild whoops and cheers broke out.

"You did it Spoony!" Archer beamed.

"That was amazing!" Sweetie exclaimed.

Rainbow shook her head in amazement. "Who'd thought the little snob had it in her?" She thought to herself. Clearing her throat she hastily added, "Okay, wasn't half bad. I mean, I've done better but still—"

"Ooh, can you do one?" Snails asked eagerly. Rainbow gave a sudden snort and said. "Er, well, this was a contest for campers and it totally wouldn't be fair for me to join in at the end and totally upstage everypony. Yeah. Anyway, that was preetty cool. I guess we know who our winner is!"

"SILVER SPOON! SILVER SPOON!" Sweetie Belle hopped up and down, giving her impressive vocal chords a work out. "Hooray!" It wasn't along until the other campers where cheering too, save for Dinky who looked a little confused at why everypony was suddenly being so nice to one of the school bullies.

Rainbow Dash took a step forward. "All right everypony, listen up!" The all turned their attention to her. "Now, you guys are going to divide into two teams of three. Then, you'll compete against each other in a totally awesome, fierce battle to the death competition to establish which on you have it what it takes to be winners!" She panted, out of breath. How did Pinkie Pie DO it?

Big Macintosh cleared his throat. "But the main thing is t'have fun and learn how to work as a team. RIGHT?" He gave Rainbow a sidewise glance, remembering her competitiveness against his sister in the Running of the Leaves. For a wonder, Rainbow Dash had the grace to look abashed.

"Er, right. Yeah." She scuffed her hoof then started again. "One of the big reasons for this whole camping trip is for you all to learn about teamwork and getting along. Now, I can tell you this—loyalty is the most important part of any relationship." Big Mac rolled his eyes as Rainbow went on. "If you can't trust the ponies you're with, then nothing can get accomplished. Without trust, without loyalty, then you're on your own. And everypony needs help now and again."

Macintosh felt obliged to ask, "What about being honest?"

Rainbow Dash locked her gaze with his dead on. "Honesty and loyalty are…they're like two sides of the same coin. If you're not honest, then ponies can't trust you. If you're loyal to somepony, then you really can't be dishonest with them." They both broke their glance at the same. Rainbow shrugged as if nothing had happened. "Anyway, the point my little ponies is that each of you needs to learn how to be confident, strong ponies while learning how to get along with others. And I can't think of a better team-building exercise than a competition!"

"What're we gonna do?" Snails asked excitedly.

"Everything you can think of!" Rainbow Dash grinned fiercely. "Tug of war, relay races, swimming, the works!" She strolled around the six foals. "Silver Spoon is going to be the captain of one team. And…" She looked around. "Dinky, you're going to be the other."

"Really?" Dinky squeaked. "Wow!"

Rainbow smiled. "Okay, Dinky, Silver Spoon. Time to pick your teams. Dinky, you go first."

"Pip!" Dinky squeaked without hesitation, her cheeks tinged pink. "I mean, I choose Pipsqueak!"

Dash looked to Silver. "That means Snails is on your team."

"Huh? Why?"

"Fairness." The older pegasus said evenly. "I want each team to be two fillies and one colt. If Dinky's team has Pip, then yours has to have Snails."

Silver Spoon bit her lip. "Oh all right…" She said reluctantly. Snails flattened his ears. Big Mac patted his withers, shooting an annoyed glance at Rainbow Dash, wishing she'd let them pick their teammates in private where no pony's feelings would get hurt.

Dinky, shuffled awkwardly. "Is it my turn? Um, I pick…Sweetie Belle!"

"I pick Archer!" Silver Spoon called, as if there was anypony else left to pick. The two teams gathered on opposite sides of the campfire. Rainbow Dash stepped forward.

"All right squirts. Big Mac and I will be referees. But Big Macintosh will be on hoof if Team Silver Spoon has any questions or needs some advice, and I'll do the same for Team Dinky Doo."

"Ah want to see both teams play clean and fair." Mac looked at both teams evenly. "This isn't about winning and losing. It's about teamwork and having fun. At the end of th' day, when the competition's over, ah'd like to see y'all as friends. So just do your best."

"And may the best team win!" Rainbow pumped her leg in the air. "Remember, there is no I in team!" She paused. "There is a 'me' though, if you jumble it up. But that's beside the point! Now, our first event is going to be…" There was a smirk on her face as all six little ponies leaned in with excitement. "Pause for dramatic effect…" She stretched out the pause, savoring the anticipation. "…a water relay race across the river! The first team to get their team across the river without getting wet wins!"

Rainbow Dash watched the little ponies quiver with excitement. "Now! Race to the river! Ready? Set. GO!"


	6. Chapter 6

After a pell-mell run down to the river, six bedraggled foals sat trying to catch their breath and planning how to cross the river. The two teams had split up, Dinky's team going upstream and Silver Spoon's going downstream.

Sweetie Belle sat with her teammates as she tried thinking of a solution. "Maybe we could knock over a tree and walk across!"

"How would we knock a tree over?" Dinky asked.

"Maybe we could find one that's already fallen over?"

Pip shook his head. "I don't see any, Sweetie. And wouldn't a tree be really heavy and hard to move?"

"Awww…" She pouted. "This is hard."

Downstream, Silver Spoon, Archer and Snails were trying to come up with an idea of their own. "This is SO hard!" Silver Spoon couldn't keep a little whine out of her voice. She was trying to be better about that but this was ridiculous! "How are we supposed to get across the river without getting wet?"

"Maybe we could cover our feet and walk across?" Archer suggested. "That way, we wouldn't get wet!"

"But we don't have anything waterproof!" Silver pointed out. She looked to the third member of their party. "I know I'm probably wasting my time, but do YOU have any ideas?" She asked Snails with an exasperated expression. Archer sighed.

Snails looked at the river and then back to them. "Maybe we could get a biiiig stick and pole vault across! That would be really awesome!" He grinned.

"Pole vault? Are you crazy?" Silver Spoon demanded. Snails' grinned died a quick death as he lowered his long neck and flattened his ears.

"S-sorry." He mumbled.

"Hey!" Archer looked at Silver Spoon in annoyance. "That was totally uncalled for!"

Silver flinched then tried to bluff her way out of her predicament. "What? It was a ridiculous idea! He might as well have suggested we catapult ourselves across!"

Stomping her hoof, Archer snorted. "Even if it was a silly idea, there's no need to pick on him! Besides, he gave ME an idea of how we can get across, but you won't hear it until you apologize!"

"Unnnnnng!" Silver Spoon bit her lip and looked at the ground. "…Sorry Snails."

"For?" Archer prodded.

"For making fun of you and being mean." Silver said in the annoyed monotone that every foal uses when being forced to make an apology.

Snails bit his lip. "R-really?"

'No.' Silver Spoon thought but didn't say. "Yes, really." She sighed. "So, what's your idea Archer?"

Archer grinned. "Follow me."

Upstream, Dinky had an idea of her own. She looked at the river and said, "Rainbow Dash never said we had to cross the stream right at this very spot! Maybe there's a place where it gets more narrow?"

"That's a good idea!" Pip exclaimed. "Let's try heading upstream! Last one there is a scurvy seadog!" He took off, Dinky close on his hooves.

"There are dogs in the sea?" Sweetie Belle asked in confusion as the two ran up ahead. "Hey, wait for me!"

They had been running for a little bit before they stopped to a slow walk. Dinky dropped back and Sweetie Belle, feeling less tired, moved forward until she was walking next to Pip.

"Hi Pipsqueak!"

"Hi Sweetie Belle! Isn't this fun?" He smiled. "It's like we're explorers!"

She giggled. "Yeah, this is fun!" Her face fell a little. "I just wish Apple Bloom and Scootaloo could be here too…"

"Oh." Pip's ears lowered. "I'm sorry. I know we're not as much fun as your friends…" He looked down.

"Nonononono!" Sweetie Belle shook her head, suddenly feeling as if she were guilty of an immeasurable crime by making Pip unhappy. "You're really fun! Everypony here is, well, except maybe for Silver Spoon." She wrinkled her snout. "But I have to admit that she isn't being as, well, snooty as she usually is."

Pip brightened. "I think she needs to learn how to have fun then she won't be so grouchy all the time. She did awfully well in the burping contest!"

"Yeah!" Sweetie giggled. "Scootaloo and Apple Bloom will never believe it!"

Pip nodded then wiped some sweat off his forehead. "It's getting awfully warm…I think I'm gonna hop in the river! Want to join me?" He asked, looking from Sweetie Belle to Dinky, who had just now caught up.

The two fillies turned to the river and saw the moss and mildew that clung to its banks. "No thanks!" They chimed as one.

"Suit yourself!" Pip chirped as he pulled off his cap and whistle and ran down to the river. "Chaaarge!"

The girls giggled as he splashed into the river, the young colt giving a delightful squeal at how cold the water was. Sweetie sat down next to Dinky and rested.

"He's fun!" The white unicorn giggled.

"Yeah." Dinky beamed. "And he's sooo nice!"

"Oooooh!" Sweetie cooed, making the cutest ambulance noise ever. "Pip and Dink-y sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Stooop it!" Dinky squealed her face started to glow bright red, afraid Pip would hear her.

Sweetie Belle gave her a gentle shove. "Awww, I'm only teasing." She gave her a look. "Oh, you really do LIKE like him, don't you!"

"Maybe?" Dinky squirmed, her cheeks blushing. "I dunno…he's just….he's so…cute!" She hugged herself. "He's the nicest, bestest friend I've ever had!"

"Awww, that's so sweet! My big sister Rarity says that when two ponies are good friends, sometimes they fall in love."

"L-love." Dinky stammered out the word. "You mean like how my mommy loves me?"

"No, silly, like how you're mommy and daddy love you!" Sweetie smiled.

Dinky shrunk down, her eyes on her hooves. "I don't…I don't have a daddy."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Sweetie nuzzled her shoulder. "Um, but if you want Pip to like you—like you like you, Rarity says that to make a colt like you, you have to act all proper and charming, like a fancy mare!"

"Fancy?"

"Yeah, all polite and well mannered!" She nodded.

"…You mean boring?"

"Don't ask me, that's how all my sister's stories go!" Sweetie nodded. "The shut-in, charming lady attracts the eye of the dashing handsome stallion. He tries to prove his love to his lady, becoming more determined every time she rejects him. Then they finally admit to their love and live happily ever after!"

"You really think that'll work?" Dinky asked, hesitantly.

"I don't see why not!" Sweetie shrugged,

"Well, I guess I could give it a try…"

"What're you two talking about?" Pip called. The two looked to see him scamper out of the river, shaking his coat dry.

"Nothing!" The two fillies said at once, then collapsed into giggles.

"Uh, okay." Pip looked confused. He shook his head. 'Girls.'

"Ugh, this is more boring than I thought it'd be." Rainbow grumbled as she lay on a tree branch, watching the campers work.

Big Macintosh, resting comfortably against the trunk of the tree, looked up at her. "Patience there, Rainbow. They're young."

"Yeah, and I wish they'd finish before I'M OLD!" She rolled her eyes and flopped back onto her branch.

"Heh, always in a hurry aintcha?"

"Well, duh, the name is Rainbow DASH."

Big Macintosh shrugged his immense shoulders. "Occurs t'me that mebe the reason you like to rush about so much is 'cuz you spend so much time sleepin? Perhaps if you stayed awake more you could take your time."

"…You know, for the strong but silent type, you sure talk too much." Big Mac sighed. "Anyway, you just don't get me. Pegasi metabolisms are super fast compared to yours. And flying eats up a lot of calories, especially when you're as awesome and fast as me. So every so often I just need to stop and recharge my batteries. Then I'm up and rearing to go again!"

"So, y'all got an off switch?" Macintosh asked with a smirk.

"You wish." She snorted. "Besides, if there's any pony who needs to have an off switch installed, it would definitely be Pinkie Pie."

"Eeyup."

The conversation sort of ground to halt for a bit, so they turned back to watch Silver Spoon's team try to make a bridge by dumping in rocks and sticks into the river. At their current rate, they would be finished in time for the next Hearth's Warming Eve.

"…Never knew you could sing." Rainbow Dash finally said after a while.

"Hm? Beg yer pardon?"

"You know that," she gestured absently with one hoof. "—song you were singing yesterday to get them moving. I never knew you could, well, do that."

He shrugged. "You never asked." Came the easy reply.

Rainbow looked at him with mild annoyance. "You never spoke!" She waved her forelegs for emphasis. "Why don't you ever talk to anypony?"

"We're talking now, ain't we?"

"You…but no I…I mean…GRAAAH!" Rainbow brought both her front hooves up in a double facehoof. "You did that on purpose!"

"Did whut?"

"That!"

"That what?"

"…You're pulling my wing, aren't you?"

"Eeyup."

Pause.

Rainbow snorted. "Okay, props to you, you had me going there. But why the silent, simple act?"

"It ain't an act. Well, the silent part anyways." He scratched his muzzle as he chewed on his wheat. "If ah don't have anything t'say, I don't say it. "Ts'all it is."

"Not exactly Mr. Sociable are you?" Rainbow queried.

Mac sighed. "Look, ah just don't see the point in wasting a lot of big, fancy words when a few simple ones will do. Less words means less chance of bein' misunderstood. Means less confusion, less trouble. 'Sides, I figure if yer a smart pony you don't need to prove it by using lotsa big words other ponies won't follow."

"…Huh." Rainbow mused. "Never thought of it like that."

Big Macintosh shrugged. "That's just a simple ol' farmpony's opinion though."

Pause.

"…You're not simple." Rainbow Dash said softly. "At least, I don't think so."

"Much obliged Rainbow. Yer smarter than you give yerself credit for too."

"Heh, considering I give myself a lot of credit that's really saying something!" She gave a puckish grin feeling rewarded when he rolled his eyes and chuckled. Then she turned her head to see Silver Spoon's team scampering up a tree on the river bank. "Hmm…I wonder what they're up to…"

"What're we doing?" Silver Spoon asked as Archer climbed up the pony ladder made of Snails on the bottom, then Silver Spoon as she reached for the tree branch.

Archer grunted as she grabbed hold. "We're—HRN—going up!"

"I KNOW that." Silver ground out. "But you haven't explained why!"

"Because we're gonna use this tree to help us get across!"

"How?"

Archer kept climbing. "We're going to use the branches as a slingshot!"

Silver Spoon and Snails dropped their jaws in unison and as one said, "No way!" Snails though, followed up with a cry of "That's SO awesome!" Silver Spoon's addendum replaced the word 'awesome' with the word 'insane'

"You're going to slingshot us across the river?" Her glasses slid down her face as she stared, with wide eyes.

"Heh, not quite." Archer smirked, sweat beading her brow. She grabbed a length of vine and tugged until it snapped. "Snails, toss me a rock. A nice, medium-sized heavy one."

"Uh, okay." Snails fumbled as he looked around for an appropriate sized rock. "Here you go!" He passed it up to Silver Spoon, who in turn passed it up to Archer. She fumbled with it a bit as she started to wrap the vine around the stone while securing the other end of the vine to one of the thinner tree branches right above the one she was sitting. Silver Spoon and Snails watched as Archer gently wedged the rock in a knothole.

Finally, after one last tug with her teeth, she was ready. "Now filly and colt." She grinned. "You'll see why I earned my cutie mark!" Tugging the tree branch as far as she could Archer narrowed her eye and let go.

The rock sailed across the river. Silver Spoon, Snails, and Archer all watched it lodge itself in the lower branches of another tree on the other side of the river.

"Now we zip line across!" Archer smiled as she wrapped her hooves around the vine and slid down, diagonally across the river."

"Who ever heard of a pony zip lining?" Silver Spoon muttered as she grabbed the vine.

Dinky sighed. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all." They had been walking up and down the river and still there was no sign of any point where the river got noticeably narrower.

"We still haven't come up with any ideas on how to cross the river." Sweetie Belle pouted. Pip fell back onto his rump, panting. His shorter stride and shorter build made the long walking even harder for him than it did Sweetie or Dinky.

"Can we…rest for…a bit?" He pleaded. Dinky nodded quickly.

"Oh! Sorry Pip!" She rushed over and was about to give him a quick nuzzle when Sweetie Belle met her gaze and shook her head quickly. Reluctantly, the little unicorn backed away. "D-do you want some water?" She asked tilting her head back in what she hoped was an elegant pose.

"Yes please." Pip nodded, wondering why Dinky's nose was in the air. Did he smell bad? Pipsqueak blushed.

"You must really be hot." Sweetie said as she came over, upending some of her canteen's contents onto his head.

"T-thanks." Pip gulped.

"Oh my, this heat simply is DREADFUL isn't it?" Three startled little ponies whirled around at the sound of the soft, somewhat effeminate but distinctly male voice. They turned to the river and saw a long purple serpentine form with riotous orange hair framing a long distinguished looking visage.

"A-are you a sea serpent?" Pip asked, wishing for his cardboard sword. "Stand back! I'm Pipsqueak the pirate and—and I won't let you hurt Dinky and Sweetie!" He stood before the two fillies, despite the fact that each of them was half again as tall as he was. He stood with his face firm, his hooves planted, as if nothing under Celestia's sun would ever dislodge him from that spot. It was, frankly, adorable. Dinky had to bite her lip to prevent from squealing.

Sweetie's eyes widened. "Hey, I know you! My big sister Rarity told me about you! She said you were the most fashionable creature in the Everfree Forest!"

"Oooooh!" The sea serpent—river serpent?—cooed. "Rarity's sister, oh what a delight! Did I startle you? Ever so sorry. Here I was just minding my way through the river systems when I couldn't help but overhear your predicament."

"W-what predicament?" Dinky blushed brightly, wondering just how long he'd been listening to them.

"Why, getting to the other side of the river of course!" The serpent (?) grinned, idly twisting his luxurious mustachios. "May I offer MY gracious assistance?"

The three campers' eyes lit up.

"That'd be great!" Sweetie hopped. "We'll win for sure! Can you take us downstream a bit? The rest of our friends are there."

"But of course. All aboard!" The three ponies hopped onto the kindly serpent's back and like a shot they were off heading downstream.

"I can't wait to see Rainbow Dash's face when we show up like this!" Sweetie Belle grinned. "Why, we might even get our cutie marks for cleverness!"

Five minutes after Team Dinky's triumphant return on the back of the serpent—oh, let's just call him Steve—Rainbow Dash was still rubbing her head. "Did nooot expect to see this." She said, staring at the two teams eagerly waiting her to say something. She shook her head. "Heh, if I was Twilight I'd probably say something about how clever you were and how creative it was finding an alternate way across."

"Really?" Sweetie Belle grinned.

"Yeah, but I'm NOT Twilight." Rainbow frowned. Sweetie and her companions winced. "The point was to sweat a little and figure out how to work as a team. Getting somepo—er, some…anyway, getting him to help you didn't do either. So Silver Spoon's team wins this competition."

"Yes!" Archer, Silver Spoon and Snails all high-hoofed.

"Uh, what do we win?" Snails asked.

Rainbow Dash grinned. "You three get first dibs on the smores we make tonight. And you get to sleep in tomorrow morning while the others do the morning chores." Turning to Dinky and her team, she added. "Good try guys, maybe next time."

"So what do we do now?" Snails asked.

Rainbow Dash's eye glinted in a way that made Big Macintosh suddenly break out in a cold sweat. "Two words my little ones: Prank. War."


	7. Chapter 7

"This here is moss." Big Macintosh pointed a hoof. "It only grows on th' north side of tree. So ifn yer ever lost, you kin find out which way is north by looking at the moss." Murmured whispers and hushed conversations greeted him.

Big Mac sighed. Ever since Rainbow Dash had announced the start of the prank war it was all the little ponies could talk about, even as they went about their nature hike. He pointed out trees, how to find a trail, and even gave a small demonstration of how to buck fruit from the trees, but clearly the little ponies' minds were elsewhere.

"The game is very simple." Rainbow Dash had told her awestruck audience earlier that day. "Your two teams will be holding contests to see who can prank the other team. You will be scored on the quality and creativity of your pranks, the number of your pranks, and bonus points if you manage to turn one of the other team's pranks back against them. You will lose points if your prank fails, if you get prank one of your own teammates, or if your prank hurts somepony."

"Be mindful of each other's feelings." Big Macintosh butted in. "Ah don't want to see nopony in tears on account of a mean prank." He gave them—and Rainbow Dash—a stern look. "And no makin' up stuff about a camper being lost or hurt or in trouble. We don't need any foals who cried timberwolf, understood?"

"Right, right." Rainbow Dash waved him off. "What he said."

Dinky raised her hoof. "Ooh! What if we manage to prank *you* Auntie Rainbow?"

"Huh?" Rainbow let out a startled laugh. "Ah heh, glad to see you're aiming high squirt, but don't get your hopes up. I'm Ponyville's premiere prankster!"

"But what if we DO manage to prank you?" Sweetie Belle chimed in.

"Well…" Rainbow toyed with them, smirking as all six campers leaned in expectantly. "If any of you DID manage to prank the prankmaster, I suppose that would give you an automatic win. And any one request from the most spectacular pegasus around these parts."

"And the only pegasus around these parts." Big Mac reminded her with an eye roll. Rainbow Dash glared.

"And if you manage to prank Big Macintosh here, then he'll be your own personal juke box for the rest of the trip!" Big Mac looked like he bit into a sour apple only to find a worm in it.

"Woah…." Gasped the campers. A favor from Rainbow Dash for anything!

"That sound good enough for you?" She asked. Her response was a dozen wide eyes.

"YEAH!" Came the enthused shout.

"All right then, good luck squirts…you're gonna need it!"  
>That was this morning. As the sun moved right overhead, Big Macintosh had been pestered right and left by little ponies trying out ideas and asking for advice on pranks and gags, something Big Macintosh was not familiar with and frankly did not want to be familiar with.<p>

"Okay colts and fillies, lunch time!" He announced to cheers and a few yays as a half dozen ponies gathered around. "Ah made apple turnovers, apple dumpling…."

"We get it, you like apples." Rainbow Dash interjected, rolling her eyes. "Line up troops, get your fill!"

"Thanks Big Mac!" Sweetie Belle grinned as she got her lunch. "This looks really good!"

"Why, thank yew kindly Sweetie. Least SOMEpony knows how to appreciate good food." Big Macintosh said loudly, pointedly not looking at Rainbow Dash as she ducked into her tent.

Pip was next but he stood aside in favor of the next pony in line. "Here you go first Dinky!"

Dinky beamed, about to thank Pip when Sweetie Belle shook her head. She mimed zipping her mouth closed and tilting her head back in what was supposed to be a dignified manner but came off as haughty and imperious.

Sighing, Dinky did the same. "Good afternoon Master Pipsqueak." She sounded like she was talking through her nose, giving no indication that she even noticed his chivalry.

Pipsqueak's ears fell. Didn't Dinky like him anymore? She was acting all formal and distant like they were strangers. Silver Spoon, who was behind both of them, glared at Dinky. How dare she? She was being such a…such a jerk! Pip was SO nice and she was just acting like a snob!

Her eyes widened and she half-stumbled to the side. "Was that how I was acting?" She asked herself. "Is that how other ponies think of me?"

Archer reached out a hoof to steady her. "Hay, Spoony, you okay?"

"Uh, yeah. Fine, fine." Silver shook her head. "Just thinking about some things." She gave Dinky one last glare before stepping forward to get her lunch.

Dinky suddenly wasn't feeling very hungry. This wasn't working! Now whenever she talked to Pip, he got all sad. That's not what she wanted!

Big Macintosh waited to sit down until he served everypony, Rainbow Dash last. He took his time in giving Rainbow her lunch, a tiny conceit on his part. To his surprise, she didn't seem to mind his deliberateness. In fact she seemed…smug. Shrugging it off, he circled around to his spot on the camp logs and sat down.

"PFFFFRRRRRRT!" The short flatulent burst shattered the calm of the camp and seemed to echo off the trees. There was dead silence then a wave of giggles from the younger ponies. Big Mac, grateful for his red coat, stood and looked down at where he had sat. He picked a flattened object and held it up: it was a deflated whoopee cushion with a cutely drawn face of a pony giving somepony a raspberry on it.

"Classic!" Rainbow Dash laughed. "All right squirts, fess up? Who did it? Who put that there?" Six foals looked back and forth and shook their heads. "C'mon…oh all right, I admit it. It was me!" Rainbow giggled as she raised her hoof.

Big Macintosh gave her an exasperated look. "Ain't you a little old for this?"

"Lighten up big guy." She snorted. "All work and no play makes for a dull pony!"

Macintosh considered this for a moment. Then an idea occurred to him. "Say, which one of you thirsty ponies would like some good ol' Sweet Apple Acre apple cider?"

The reaction was instantaneous.

"Cider? You brought cider?" Dash's tongue lolled out as a faint sliver of drool made its way out of her mouth. "Please tell me you're not joking. That's too cruel!"

"Eenope. Serious as a cattle stampede." Big Mac reached into his saddle bag and took out a pair of large thermoses. "Specially made." He explained, jostling them ever so slightly right in front of Rainbow's face. "Keeps the cider nice and cool."

Her eyes widened as if she had seen pure rapture. "Well what are you waiting for? Pour some!"

Big Macintosh thought about it. "Hm….eeeeenope!" He grinned, taking inordinate pleasure in drawing the cider just out of her reach. "Ah don't think so."

"What? Oh come on!" She whined. "That's totally not fair!"

"Hm. What do y'all think? Should I give Rainbow Dash a sip?" He winked as he turned to their charges. The campers giggled and pretended to think it over.

Archer stroked her chin. "I don't know…"

Snails piped out. "I think we should! She's the counselor and she's super awesome!"

"And super bossy." Silver Spoon countered with a smirk.

Big Macintosh tossed Rainbow a grin. "Sounds like yer gonna have to give them something to convince them."

Rainbow gave her junior co-counselor an even look. "Really. Like what?"

"Maaaaybe you should offer them something. Something…cool." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. Usually she needed little or not prompting to show off for her fans but being made to perform for her lunch bruised her pride a little.

"All right…how about after dinner I give you all a show of some of my *fantastic* moves."

Big Macintosh tapped his muzzle. "Hm, naah. Not enough."

Rainbow Dash felt a vein twitch over her forehead as she ground her teeth together. "Okay…whoever comes up with the best prank by the end of the day will also get a ten minute ride from me."

A chorus of oohs and awes broke out behind Big Macintosh but still, the large stubborn stallion shook his head. "Eenope."

"What?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, echoed by six little ponies. "An awesome air show and a ride? What more could a pony want from me?"

Mac's eyes narrowed as a clever grin crossed his freckled face. "A li'l cherry on top. You do all that…and you gotta give us a song."

"Pfff, fine, whatever…no sweat." She crossed her hooves across her chest. "NOW, can I have my cider?"

"Nu-uh uh! This cain't jest be another song about you bein' awesome and cool." Big Mac waggled a hoof reproachfully. "This has to be a COUNTRY song!"

Rainbow Dash's wings jutted out to the side in pure shock. "WHAT? County? Oh come on, country music is totally lame! Er, no offense. But there's no way you're gonna get me to sing country!"

Shrugging, Big Macintosh started packing his cider-filled thermoses away. "All right then, I guess you'll have to go without until Cider Season starts…."

Rainbow bit her lip. Apple Family cider was sooo cool and delicious. It was the best drink she'd ever had. She felt her eyes watering as she watched the cider gradually start to disappear into his saddle bags. She could almost swear she saw them waving as if to say 'Goodbye Rainbow Dash, goodbye…'

"ALL RIGHT! ALL RIGHT!" Rainbow covered her ears. "You win! I'll sing, I'll sing! Just pleeeease pour me some of that cider!"

"Now why didn't y'all just say so?" Mac winked to the giggling campers as he slooowly filled a plastic cup full of cider. Rainbow snatched it out of his hoof so fast he thought she might've taken half his leg off with her. She drank it down greedily, as if afraid Big Macintosh would change his mind and try to take it back. Frankly, he'd sooner try prying a diamond away from a dragon than getting between that pegasus and her cider.

When she finished, Rainbow dropped her empty cup on the ground and licked her chops for any stray drops. Her eyelids fluttered as she stared upwards, hugging her body with her legs and her wings. "So delicious…!"

Big Macintosh had to cover his muzzle with his hooves and pretend to cough to cover up his snickers. Rainbow Dash glared, silently swearing revenge for his cruel toying with her. The campers giggled and went back to their own lunches, even more intent on performing some outstanding prank by the end of the day.

"Maybe we can put a plastic spider in Rainbow Dash's sleeping bag!" Sweetie Belle suggested.

"Spiders aren't scary!" Pip wiggled his muzzle at her.

"They are too! Whenever Rarity sees a spider she screams and screams and screams!" Sweetie insisted.

"Doesn't your sister do that all the time?" Dinky asked innocently. "She did that when momma got muffin crumbs in the scarf Rarity gave her."

"Oh." Sweetie rubbed her head. "Yeah..."

"We need to think of something else." Pipsqueak said.

Dinky gave him a look. "What did you have in mind?"

"Do you have anything in your mind?" Silver Spoon looked at Snails in aggravation. "At all?" Their team had been brainstorming ideas for a good prank on Rainbow Dash but so far it consisted solely of Silver Spoon and Archer suggesting and shooting down each other's ideas. Snails had been doing his utmost to be unnoticed. Usually this didn't take much effort on his part. Most ponies tended to ignore him if he didn't say anything. The one time he WANTED to be ignored *would* be the one time it didn't work.

Snails shuffled his hooves. "Um, I like pudding?" He gave a weak grin, hoping Silver Spoon would give up asking him. The fact that she immediately facehoofed herself gave him hope that it would work. But Archer, still trying to improve Silver Spoon's opinion of Snails, just wouldn't let it go.

"C'mon Snails, you've got to have *some* idea." Archer wheedled. "Anything! It's not like we're coming up with any great ideas." She pointed out.

"Um, I don't really…" Snails mumbled. He didn't *want* to prank Rainbow Dash! If he pranked her she'd be upset with him and then she wouldn't like him! And Snails really really *really* wanted Rainbow Dash to like him!

"Please?" Archer prodded. Snails bit his lip. He didn't want to say anything but Archer was being so nice to him too! It was so confusing! He closed his eyes and before he could help it, he blurted out the first thing he could think of.

"Big Macintosh!" He really wished the older stallion was here to help him think. But Archer and Silver Spoon took his excited outburst to mean something different.

"Snails you're brilliant!" Archer said, giving Silver Spoon a nudge. "Isn't he brilliant Spoony?" Silver Spoon rolled her eyes.

"Um, I am?" Snails was, understandably, confused.

Archer didn't seem to mind. "It's perfect! We make it look like Big Macintosh pulled a prank on Rainbow Dash and then SHE pulls a prank on him! THEN we tell her that we did it. She'll be so impressed that we managed to put one over on her and Big Mac all at the same time that we'll be bound to win!"

"…Oh." Snails blinked.

"Spoony and I will think of the start up prank, but you gave us an awesome strategy!" Archer winked at Silver. "See? I told you if you gave him a chance that Snails would be really helpful." She was hoping that Silver Spoon would lighten up and become friends with the gangly colt. Maybe even become more than friends. The idea of Silver Spoon and Snails made Archer giggle.

Silver Spoon, missing most of the byplay, was wondering if Archer's brain had melted. Did Archer have a crush on Snails, of all ponies? Yuck.

Snails backed away. "I'm gonna go for a walk…" He gave a weak grin, then turned and galloped off, not waiting for an answer. He had messed everything up! Now he had to do something to show Rainbow Dash that he liked her before his teammates pranked her with his idea—something he still really didn't understand.

Walking through the woods near the camp, the young colt hung his head. He had no idea what to do. He sniffed. Then he sniffed again. Something smelled nice. Looking around he found that he had walked into a patch of flowers. And what flowers! He saw flowers with petals of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet! Just like a rainbow.

That's when Snails got the greatest, most bestest idea he ever had EVER.

Dinky sighed and put her face in her hooves as Pip excused himself to grab some more cider for the group.

"What's wrong Dinky?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"It's not working!" The blue-gray unicorn filly pouted. "I'm acting all lady-like but Pip doesn't ever notice!"

Sweetie Belle tapped her muzzle with her hoof. "Hm. Rarity says that sometimes colts can be a little dense."

Dinky protested immediately. "How can Pip be dense? You see how little he is?"

"No no no, not dense like heavy. I mean that some colts don't pick up on romantic stuff as fast as fillies do. Rarity says that we're more mature than colts at our age." Sweetie beamed. Then she giggled. "Hee hee, dense. Rarity would know about dense boyfriends. She once dated a rock!"

Dinky giggled. "No way! Did he bring her flowers?"

"That's it!" Sweetie exclaimed. "Flowers!"

"Huh?"

"Nooothing." Sweetie Belle giggled. "Um, I haveta use the little filly's room. Be right back!" She zoomed off leaving a confused Dinky Doo behind. Now Sweetie just had to find Pip…

Back at the campground, the two counselors kept a loose eye on the campers as they huddled and walked and whispered around the nearby woods. Close enough to come in case they needed help, but far enough away to give the foals a bit of autonomy. So far, Big Macintosh had to admit, they'd shown some real signs of learning to think and act for themselves. They earned the chance to show them big ponies what they were capable of.

Of course, there were more practical reasons to why the two adults were staying put. Rainbow Dash fanned herself with one wing. "Wheew. Hot day today."

"Eeyup." Mac agreed. "It's purty hot all right. Least a ways you ain't pulling the plow on the farm as the noon sun beats down on your back. Now THAT'S hot."

"Try clearing the clouds on a day like that. You're so high up that you think your wings might actually melt! I need to wear my goggles just so I don't go blind. And on days where there isn't a breeze and it's really humid? Forget it; it's like flying in soup!"

"I'll take you at yer word." Big Macintosh got comfortable. "Mind if ah ask you something Rainbow?"

"Knock yourself out."

Macintosh grunted. "Thanks. Ah was wondering, how'd you get roped up in this little expy-dition?"

"Eh." Rainbow shrugged expressively with her wings. "You know that pink stuck up girl, Diamond Tiara?"

"Eeyup." Big Mac gave a rueful nod. "Ah sure do."

"Well, she and Silver Spoon were saying nasty things to Dinky about her mom." Dash scrunched up her muzzle in disgust. "I went to Cheerilee to let her know, then she pitched this idea and well, here we are."

"Mighty nice of you." Big Mac said evenly. "Ah didn't know you were so close to Ditzy and her kin." He smiled at Rainbow's embarrassed laugh.

"A heh, yeah, well…somepony had to help Ditzy out with her flying. Can't have her crashing into everything." She rubbed her head.

"So, you were afraid she'd steal yer thunder, Rainbow Crash?" Big Mac teased, regretting it when Rainbow Dash gave him a glower Applejack wouldn't have been ashamed to call her own.

"Do NOT call me that." She ground out, her teeth almost grinding together. "Got that?"

"Got it. Mah apologies Miss Dash." Mac said, honestly contrite. "Ah heard AJ call you that once or twice…"

Rainbow half-turned away and crossed her arms. "Hmph. She knows better than that." Then she yielded. A little. "Of course I miiight've called her Ampleflank right before that."

Startled, the big red stallion let out a whinny of pure amusement. "Ampleflank? Oh apple pie, ah've got to remember that one!"

Rainbow Dash cracked a smile. "Yeah, that is good, isn't it?" She preened a little, her temper forgotten. "Anyway, Ditzy's all right. You just sort of have to…you know, look up once in a while."

"How'd you get to be friends with Miss Doo? Ah thought she annoyed you." Big Macintosh asked, hoping not to provoke Rainbow Dash's somewhat unpredictable temper.

Her answer surprised. "Well duh, of course she does, sometimes." Big Mac blinked, but Rainbow went on. "But hay, if I could only be friends with ponies that never annoyed me, I wouldn't have any friends."

"Mighty big of you." Big Macintosh drawled lazily. "Rest assured, ah'm sure the feelin's mutual." He paused. "So….do I, er, annoy you?" He asked curiously.

Turning over, Rainbow gave him an odd half-smile. "You…annoy the ever loving daylights out of me." She smiled as she said it.

"Aww shucks. You annoy me too." Big Mac batted his eyes sweetly. Rainbow gagged.

"All right, don't make me yack up my lunch." She rolled over onto her hooves and shook herself off. "…Say big guy?"

"Hmm?"

"Does AJ ever, you know, talk about me?"

"Ah reckon she might've mentioned you a time or two." Big Macintosh said evenly, with just a hint of a coy tone.

"…like?" Rainbow prodded.

"Whelp… Big Macintosh drawled. "I hear tell that you might be a fan of those Wonderbolt ponies." His voice was completely deadpan. "Why? Was there something else you were thinking of?"

"Heh, nah…I guess I was just being silly." Rainbow chuckled.

"Eeyup." Mac smirked. "T'ain't like AJ would ever say anything about that time you crashed into one of our trees and got stuck for two hours until she came and got you out."

"HEY! She promised she would never tell anypony that!" Rainbow flushed crimson.

Big Macintosh shrugged. "Well, t'be fair she was a little woozy at the time." He defended. "Had a bit of a fever and we got to talking…it jest came up."

"Just came up huh?" Rainbow glowered at Big Mac, her face still red. He chuckled at the sight. Her eyes narrowed. "Yeah, I guess strange things can come up…like that time when Applejack was five and she caught you trying on your Granny's make-up?"

Macintosh almost choked on his wheat. "H-hey now! It t'werent like that at all!" He protested as Rainbow Dash giggled and rolled over on her back in mirth. His ears grew hot. "Mah friend dared me to!"

"Sure, sure." She snickered. "I believe you." Rainbow cooed patronizingly.

"AJ swore she'd never tell!" Mac fumed.

The pegasus shrugged. "What can I say?" She could've said that she only learned that juicy little tidbit because Apple Bloom and her friends decided to be Cutie Mark Crusader Potion Makers. They tried to cure Applejack's hiccups and instead had her spilling so many secrets that she ended up stuffing her hat in her mouth to get it to stop. Still…payback justifies many things, Rainbow Dash thought.

"That durn…all right, then. How'd you like to hear about the time she tried cutting her own hair and got mistaken for a colt for three months?"

"Would I!"

Snails beamed happily as he gleefully trotted back to camp, a large rainbow bouquet of flowers clutched firmly in his mouth. They looked really nice! This was the best idea ever!

Then Pip came barreling out of the flower patch, clutching his own rainbow-colored bouquet. It was the strangest thing. Sweetie Belle had come up to him when he was getting the cider and then she mentioned that she'd seen the 'most beautiful flowers in all of Equestria!' just a few minutes away from camp. Then she'd walked off saying something about how much girl's liked it when a nice boy gave them flowers.

Pip was a little confused. Did Sweetie want some flowers? Then why didn't she get them herself if she knew where they were? But he did get a great idea: he'd get some flowers for Dinky! Maybe then she'd stop being so…whatever…towards him. He had picked *so* many flowers that he had to hold his head backwards to prevent himself from tipping over.

It was a rather awkward walk, considering he couldn't see the ground in front of him. Finally he had to stop and take a rest, carefully depositing his bouquet at the foot of a large stone. Pip wiped his forehead and walked off to see if there was anypony around camp to see him bring his prize in.

From the opposite direction, Snails approached with *his* bouquet of flowers for Rainbow Dash and deposited near the same stone. He needed to wash some prickles out of his muzzle before he presented them to Rainbow.

"Look!" Archer pointed to Silver Spoon as Snails exited the woods. "See? I *told* you Snails had some good ideas! He picked all those great flowers! Now all we have to do is make Rainbow Dash think they're from Big Macintosh!"

"How will *that* be a prank?" Silver Spoon asked dubiously.

"It will be once we put in the poison ivy!" Archer grinned, pointing at a bush.

As the sun started to set, Big Macintosh and Rainbow Dash called the campers in for dinner. A cozy campfire was lit and Big Mac was serving dinner while oh-so calmly reminding Rainbow Dash of her earlier promise.

With an elaborate roll of her eyes, Rainbow Dash took to the air and performed an even more elaborate roll through the darkening sky. Her prismatic contrail seemed all the more dazzling as she tore through the evening. No pony had ever seen a rainbow at night before, after all.

While she might only be performing in the hopes of getting more cider, Rainbow Dash loved to fly. And with an appreciative audience…well, she was in her element. She spiraled, twirled and zoomed over the campsite, reveling in the oohs and awes of the little foals.

"That's so amazing!" Sweetie squeaked as she watched as Rainbow Dash double backed and seemed to tie a rainbow knot in midair.

"Blimey!" Pip's jaw dropped.

Dinky, temporarily forgetting to be lady-like, cuddled up close to him. "Yeah…"

"Dun forget about yer song!" Big Macintosh called with a smug grin. Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth but forced herself to seem nonchalant.

"If you want a country song, then fine. Here's a little number I learned over in Appleloosa courtesy of a fellow named Braeburn." Rainbow grinned. "A real rarity, an Apple stallion you could actually hold a conversation with!"

"Git on with it!" Big Macintosh called out, but he was smiling. This oughta be good fer a laugh, he thought to himself. A hot shot like Rainbow Dash trying to sing country? Oh what AJ wouldn't give to see this!

Feeling a bit nervous, Rainbow Dash cleared her throat and started to sing, drifting slowly across the sky.

"Take my love, take my land

Take me where I cannot stand

I don't care, I'm still free

You can't take the sky from me." Rainbow spread her hooves up, indicating the heavens above her, the dark sky glittering with stars. Big Mac felt his jaw drop. He wasn't the only pony.

"Take me out to the black

Tell my ma I ain't comin' back

Burn the land and boil the sea

You can't take the sky from me." Rainbow's sandy voice, nowhere near as graceful as Fluttershy's or Rarity's or any of her other friends, somehow made the song seem more...real, somehow.

"There's no place I can be

Since I found serenity

You can't take the sky from me..." Her voice drifted off as she flew up, towards the sky, her legs and wings outstretched.

There was a sudden silence that lay over the camp. Then it was shattered with shouts, applause and whistles from six amazed young ponies and grown work pony who felt his grasp on reality shaken.

"That was..." Big Mac coughed. "That was quite something Rainbow. Ah tip mah hat to you." He made as if to do so, despite not wearing a hat."

"That was AWESOME!" Snails exclaimed.

Sweetie Belle rubbed her eyes. "It was so beautiful..."

That's when Pip suddenly remembered. "I have to go!" He stood up suddenly, causing Dinky to overbalance and topple over. "Be right back!"

Snails, who was in the process of tying his own long neck in a knot trying to follow Rainbow Dash's twists and turns, suddenly remembered that he had someplace to be. "Gotta go!" He yelped as he darted into the forest too. Despite Pip having a head start, Snails' longer legs got him to the stone first. Grabbing the bouquet—and not wondering why it was suddenly on the other side of the rock from where he had left it—Snails ran back to camp, Pipsqueak hot on his hooves. Rainbow Dash had landed and was busy bowing to the applause of the fillies.

An unlucky tumble through the bushes let Pipsqueak arrive ahead of Snails, but Snails popped into camp right after him. "D'nky!" Pip said around a mouthful of flowers.  
>"Fwr 'ou!"<p>

"Awww…" Sweetie Belle and Archer coooed as Dinky's face lit up in a bright blush. Silver Spoon crossed her hooves. Dinky didn't deserve somepony as nice as Pip after the way she'd been acting.

"Thank you…" Dinky hugged the flowers, rubbing her face against their soft petals. "They're so beautiful."

"You deserve it Dinky!" Pip smiled warmly.

Snails, not wanting to lose the moment, walked over to Rainbow Dash. "Ah gut oo somfin!" Snails grunted to her.

"Huh?" Rainbow blinked. You…got me flowers?" Snails gave his friendliest—and goofiest—smile. "Gee, that's really—"

A sudden shriek cut her off. Rainbow turned to see Dinky furiously scratching her face and chest with her hooves. "Make it stop!" She whined as she continued to scratch. "It itches!"

"Hang on little miss, ah'm a comin.'" Big Macintosh hurried over. He examined the dropped bouquet. "Looks like you got exposed to poison ivy." He said sympathetically as Dinky sniffled. "Try not to scratch."

"But it itches!" Dinky wailed her voice hitching. Silver Spoon tried, and failed, to conceal a nasty little smirk. Serves her right, she thought. Rainbow Dash noticed.

Big Macintosh rubbed Dinky's mane. "S'okay sugarcube, ah got something that should make the itching stop."

Pip started to babble out apologies. "Dinky, I'm so sorry! I—"

"If you didn't like me all you had to do was say so!" Dinky sobbed, glaring at Pip and then Sweetie Belle. "I should never have listened to you! Pip hates me now!"

Sweetie Belle and Pip looked at each other and then at Dinky, each feeling horrible. "Y-you don't understand!" Pip squeaked.

"I—I never meant to—!" Sweetie started.

"S'alright, we kin sort this out later." Big Mac stepped in. "C'mon Dinky, let's wash this stuff off."

Rainbow wanted to fly off and make sure everything was cool, but she still had a little colt standing before her with a bouquet of flowers. Looking from Pip to Snails, Rainbow Dash figured out what happened. "Nice try Snails."

"I—but—" Snails sputtered. Rainbow laughed.

"S'okay. Points for effort. I have to say, I didn't see it coming from you." She gave him a gentle noogie. "I'd take you for that ride, but I want to make sure Dinky's okay. Have a good one champ!"

"C-champ?" Snails face heated and his grin got even wider and goofier. Rainbow Dash started down to the river where Dinky was taking a bath with some sort of goo Big Mac had brought with him—probably another one of Zecora's brews. She was about to ask Dinky how she was when a large solid red wall of pony blocked her path.

"Whoa!" Rainbow Dash drew back. "Didn't think a guy as big as you could sneak up on anypony!"

Macintosh wasn't smiling.

Rainbow's own smile faltered.

"So….how's Dinky doing?"

"She's fine." Big Mac's voice was hard, like granite. "Surprised you could leave. Here ah fig'red you'd be too busy congratulating the pony that did this to Dinky."

"What? No, of course not!" Rainbow blurted out. "Pranks are supposed to be in good fun! Whoever put that poisin ivy in the flower's Pip picked for her—that's just mean!"

"Mighty thin line you draw between good fun and mean." Macintosh said stonily. "Wouldn't be surprised if the foals you're so busy preening yourself for missed the distinction."

Her eye's widened as she picked up at what was left unsaid. "You think this is MY fault?" Rainbow demanded hotly.

"Ah didn't say that."

"You didn't need to! I could tell what you were thinking!"

"Well, maybe I think instead of goofing around, y'all could've been teaching this foals about responsibility and hard work, like you were supposed to." Macintosh looked down at her.

Rainbow Dash returned his look without a blink. "Hey things have been going pretty fine up until now! And I work plenty hard at what I do!"

"Oh yeah, ah can jest tell. Must be powerful tiring finding the right one of OUR apple trees for you to nap in!" A sure sign of his anger, Big Mac seldom resorted to outright sarcasm.

Rainbow flew up, pushing her snout against his aggressively. "If it weren't for the clouds and the weather I push around you wouldn't HAVE any apple trees!"

"And here I thought it had something to do with the hard work my family's been doing since before Ponyville existed that had something to do with it." Big Mac's sarcasm was biting as he shoved back. "But then, hard work ain't something yer likely to understand!"

"What's THAT supposed to mean?" Rainbow Dash seethed.

"What ah said. Work hard? You spend all yer time napping when you're supposed to be moving the clouds!"

"That's because I can get my work done faster than you can say 'eeeeeyup' big guy." Rainbow said, half braggingly, half challengingly.

"Then that ain't hardly working hard, is it?" Came the ready response.

"I work *plenty* hard training for the Wonderbolts! Do you know how much effort, how much practice I put in every single day? Is it any wonder I need to rest up?"

"Oh now THAT'S important." The red stallion snorted. "Doing some silly tricks in the air? What good does it do anypony? At least applebucking gives you plenty of apples."

Rainbow looked fit to burst at having somepony casually disregard her dreams and sacrifices as being of no importance. "Gee, I forgot, if it doesn't have to do with apples you can't understand it!"

"I understand plenty! I understand that you do whatever you like to do, whenever you like to do, without a care in the world. And what do you do with all your free time? Laze about and show off and brag. Some of us WORK to earn our keep instead of spending all of our time dreaming silly dreams!"

"At least I *have* a dream to follow! Ever since I was a little filly it's been my dream to fly with the Wonderbolts, wear their uniform, be one of them! Ugh, look who I'm talking to. You've never had a dream in your life!"

"What?" Big Macintosh exclaimed, his red face flushing angrily.

"The only thing you do is the do exactly what your parents and grandparents did and then have foals so you can teach them to do exactly what you've done." Rainbow explained, snorting. "You never had to figure out anything, you had it all laid out for you! A family, a job…some of us had to *find* the thing that gave our life meaning." Below her rage, her voice hitched ever so slightly. "You just work like a good little colt with your 'eeyups' and 'eenopes' while you let everypony around you make your decisions for you! It's no wonder you never talk, you never have anything to say! You're whole purpose in life is to be a placeholder, a link in a chain." Rainbow's chest heaved as she struggled to maintain her composure. Then she said the most hurtful thing imaginable. "…I feel sorry for you Apples."

Big Mac stomped his feet angrily, shaking rocks several feet away. Of all the things anypony had ever said to him— "Whut's THAT supposed to mean?" Big Macintosh started getting REALLY angry. No pony bad mouthed the Apple family!

Rainbow Dash's magenta eyes narrowed. "You honestly think that you have all the answers, that everything you do is just SO perfect!" Rainbow's voice became low and hick-ish, letting her eyes cross. "We're the Apples, eyup! We think on account o' we ain't use no then there ma-gic or pegasuses that we're somehow more honest and better than everypony else in Equestria. Eeyup!" Then her face and voice returned to normal. "You are totally full of yourselves!"

"Well ain't that the pig callin' the mule smelly!" Big Mac practically roared in disbelief. "And ah know we're more honest and hardworking than a certain air-headed layabout! Ah'm sure Miss Doo will be mighty pleased that her daughter got all het up and upset under the watch of a future Wonderbolt. That'll make it all better."

Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "Don't you DARE. Remember who I am? The Element of Harmony I represent? I would do anything for Dinky or any other foal here. And when I'm done here I'm gonna give that brat Silver Spoon a piece of mind for her nasty little trick."

"Don't give away more than you kin spare."

"You want a throw down? Then let's go!" Rainbow put up her hooves.

"STOP IT!" Came a thin, high shriek from behind them. They turned to see Dinky standing, shivering in the shallows of the river. The two ponies raced over to her.

"Dinky, are you okay?" Rainbow asked, reaching out a hoof.

"NO!" Dinky cried, batting it away. "I feel so bad inside! Pip doesn't like me anymore I'm itchy and wet and two grown-ups I really like are fighting and I want my momma!" She started bawling.

"Oh, Dinky" Rainbow wrapped her forelegs around the little filly. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It'll be okay, it's okay."

On her other side, Big Macintosh started to gently rub the upset girl's back with one of his giant hooves, with surprising tenderness.

Dinky whimpered. "Please don't fight anymore…" She sniffled. "I don't like it. It's scary and it makes me feel bad…"

"We're mighty sorry Dinky." Big Macintosh rubbed her back like he did for Apple Bloom when she was upset. "We're the adults and we should know better."

Rainbow Dash nodded as she sat in the cold river and hugged Dinky. "Yeah, we were being super lame." Dinky sniffed again. "Come on. Let's go get warm by the fire before you catch a cold. Then we'll all go to bed. Things will be better in the morning, okay?"

"M'okay." Dinky whimpered. Big Mac lowered himself down and gave the filly a ride on his broad back. Rainbow Dash and Big Macintosh didn't look at each other the whole way back.

The rest of the night didn't go much better. When they got back Big Macintosh put Dinky to bed. Rainbow Dash called Silver Spoon out and took her for a walk outside camp. The others heard shouting as Rainbow Dash accused Silver of putting the poison ivy in Pip's flowers for Dinky and Silver Spoon cried and shouted that she didn't.

In camp, Archer groaned. Pip was mad at Sweetie Belle. Dinky was mad at Pip and Sweetie Belle. Silver Spoon was mad at Dinky, Rainbow Dash was mad at Silver Spoon, Big Macintosh was mad at Rainbow Dash and Rainbow Dash was mad right on back to Big Macintosh. How had everything gone so wrong?


	8. Chapter 8

The next morning was a dull grey, which rather nicely captured the mood of the camp. Everypony kept to themselves. Big Macintosh lethargically stirred a pot of oatmeal while Rainbow Dash sat as far away as she could. Dinky was huddled over and by herself and Silver Spoon's face was red and puffy. Pip and Sweetie Belle looked miserable, each wanting to go over to comfort Dinky but felt her giving off a ten foot 'do not disturb' vibe. Archer felt incredibly guilty for whole situation. Only Snails seemed to be enjoying himself, chewing slowly and methodically as he ate his oatmeal. He was so focused on chewing that he didn't even seem to notice his oatmeal had the consistency of tar, much less the tense atmosphere around camp.

Big Macintosh lifted his head from where it had been leaning over into a lumpy bowl of oatmeal, as if it contained the mysteries of the universe, and snuck a peak in Rainbow Dash's direction. The cyan pegasus was morosely chewing her oatmeal, smacking her lips as she tried to force it down. The stallion sighed. He hadn't lost his temper like that in…well, a long time. When you're as big and powerful as Big Mac was, you didn't want to go around scaring folks by losing your cool. He didn't want ponies to be afraid of him. But Rainbow Dash didn't seem scared at all. She just keep pushing and prodding until he darn near exploded. Twice.

He sighed again. Macintosh wasn't the sort of pony who could hold a grudge for long. Besides, he learned when he was young that staying mad for long periods of time didn't do nopony any good—'specially if you were the sort to stamp your hooves or slam a door closed…it's a wonder he didn't end up with a carpentry cutie mark.

Reaching down into his saddle bags, he took out another thermos of cider. As softly as he could manage he walked over to Rainbow Dash and gently set the cider down by her hoof. "Here." He said evenly.

"…" Rainbow Dash turned around, swallowing a mouthful of breakfast. After a couple of swallows of what could either have been emotions or her oatmeal, she hoarsely said. "No thanks."

"C'mon, it's Apple Family Cider." Big Mac chided. "The very best. Ah know how much you love it."

Rainbow crossed her hooves and turned away. "Don't want it." She sandy voice sounded low, as if something were lodged in her throat and it wasn't her breakfast. "Shouldn't be wasted on an airheaded layabout who's never done a hard day's work in her life, right?" Apparently, she *was* the type to hold a grudge, Big Mac thought. But she sounding less bitter and sarcastic than Macintosh would've thought.

"Miss Dash…Rainbow…" Big Macintosh struggled for words. "Last night…"

"Just go away." She mumbled, still not facing him. It wasn't until she heard his hoofsteps retreating that she allowed her body to shake a little as a stray, unwanted tear trickled down her face.

"Rainbow Dash?" With a sudden surprised exhale, Rainbow hastily scrubbed her face with her hoof and turned around to see who it was.

"Y-yeah? Oh, hey Snails."

"Hey!" Snails smiled. "Um, are you okay Rainbow Dash?"

She gave a wane smile and flapped her wings proudly. "Heh, I'm *better* than okay. I'm Rainbow Dash!"

Snails nodded. "You are majorly *awesome!*" He smiled.

"Thanks kid." She seemed to perk up for a moment, only to deflate again. Then she noticed that Big Macintosh had left the thermos by her hooves. "Want some cider?"

Breakfast did little to raise the spirits of the dejected group. Rainbow Dash said that today they would take a break from contests and competitions. Instead, they would have a swimming lesson in nearby lake, followed by a picnic lunch.

It was actually quite an idyllic scene. The lake was clear blue and surrounded on all sides by green grass and majestic trees which the younger ponies immediately thought to use as diving boards.

"Cool!" Sweetie Belle ran down to the water's edge. "C'mon you guys! Swimming is really fun!" Her wide smile faltered when Dinky walked down to the lake morosely and just sat on the bank, twirling her hooves in the water and not looking up. "Um, wanna play pirates Pip?" She asked. "I know you…like…them…" She trailed off when Pipsqueak planted his rump on the ground and looked away.

"No thanks…I don't feel like it." He mumbled.

Meanwhile, Snails took the opportunity to climb one of the trees and leap off with a loud whoop, trying to impress a certain somepony. Rainbow Dash acknowledged him with a brief nod but nothing more. It wasn't until Big Mac trotted over to her that she found a reason to be someplace else.

Snails climbed out of the water and shook his coat dry, dousing the other five youth. "Oops! Sor-ry." He grinned and walked over to the depressed looking Pip. "What's wrong, eh?"

Pip sighed. "Dinky hates me." His eyes watered.

"Oh." Snails blinked slowly. "That's too bad."

"Yeah." They paused. Guy talk at its finest.

Snails wished that Snips were here. He would know what to do. "…wanna hang out?" He said at last. "I can show you how to impress all the fillies with my super diving!" Snails was beaming from Rainbow Dash's acknowledgement of his skills.

Pip sighed. "Okay, I guess." The two colts got up and started towards one of the trees and began to climb. Snails went first.

"Whoohooo!" He yelled as he tucked into a cannonball…only to land on his back and slowly sink into the water. Everypony watching winced. "Ow…." Snails gave a weak moan as he went under.

"Are you okay?" Pip asked as Snails resurfaced.

"…sure, eh. Now you go!" Came the pleased if somewhat strained answer.

"All right…" Pip took a deep breath and backed up on the branch. Then he started to run to the end of the branch, only to trip and fall, not over the water but the hard, solid ground! "Aaah!"

"Pip!" Dinky and the fillies gasped as he started to fall. Suddenly they were nearly knocked off their hooves by a blue blur that trailed rainbows behind it. Mere seconds before Pip would've hit the ground, Rainbow Dash zoomed past and neatly caught the young colt on her back as she skimmed low, just above the lake.

"You okay back there?" Rainbow shouted. Pip, clutching tightly to her, gave a quick nod.

"T-thanks! I thought I was goner there!"

"Heh, no sweat." She leaned to one side, coming back around over the lake. "Good effort though. Took guts." Turning her head she added, "That's an important thing. Sometimes you just have to take the plunge. Sometimes it'll work and sometimes you'll end up hurt. But it's better than moping on the side. Get it?"

"Um…I guess?" Pip said slowly, thinking she was saying more than she was letting on.

"Good." She winked. "Now, let's do something to really impress the fillies…grab my tail." Confused and more than a little certain, Pip grabbed a hoofull of her rainbow tail. "Hang on!" Rainbow Dash did a quick barrel roll that pitched Pip off her back. He yelped and clung tightly to her tail with both hooves, his lower legs just skimming the surface of the water.

His eyes were wide in fear but it quickly transformed into one of amazement and then one of glee. "Whoa!" He grinned as he found himself waterskiing. "Cool!"

Rainbow Dash smirked as she flew around. From the shore everypony was watching in awe. Then she got some height and said. "All right, let go!"

Pip tucked himself into a little ball and dropped into the lake with an adorably soft 'plink!' He resurfaced a moment later, all smiles.

From the water's edge, the other little ponies laughed and cheered. Even Dinky's mood softened as she watched Pip trying to splash Rainbow Dash as she hovered over him, taking her bows.

Big Macintosh rolled his eyes. "There she goes showin' off again." He muttered. Then she tucked her wings against her side and splashed down almost on top of the small pinto pony. A brief splash war broke out and she quickly gained the upper hoof, giving Pip a victory noogie. Then she flopped on her back and drifted on the water.

Big Mac, not being much of a swimmer, stayed on shore and watched the younger ponies play and frolic in the water. The tension from the morning wasn't gone—Pip and Dinky still kept their distance and Silver Spoon's pose around Dinky was full of tension—but it wasn't as bad as it was before.

When Rainbow Dash came out of the water, shaking her wings and her coat dry, Big Macintosh tried to take the opportunity to smooth things out with her.

"Rainbow Dash…about whut happened last night…" He scuffed his hoof on the ground but forced himself to look her in eye. "Ah said things that I regret and ah know you said some too..."

"No. I didn't." Rainbow Dash looked up sternly, her voice deadly earnest. "I meant every word. And so did you."

This was not how Big Mac imagined this going. "That's not—"

"Admit it." She stomped her hoof, snorting and flapping her wings like she was preparing to charge the stallion who was twice her size and about three times her body mass. "You Apples are all big on honesty, right? So be honest. You meant what you said: you think you're better than me. Admit it. Admit it or I will never respect you again!"

Big Macintosh closed his eyes and lowered his head. "…Ah did." He admitted, flinching as if the confession was physically painful. But he pushed forward. "Just because ah might've been dumb enough to believe what I said don't make it true. Don't even mean ah believe it now, either."

"Whatever." Rainbow snorted, turning away and ruffling her feathers. "I have enough friends who don't think they're better than me without needing you." She walked away, heading over to Sweetie Belle.

After that, Big Macintosh decided to keep his distance a little bit longer. So he sat on the shore and watched the little ponies play. It wasn't long before Rainbow Dash called for a swimming race. "First team to reach the far side of the lake wins!"

"There she goes agin." Big Macintosh sighed as he watched. "Doesn't she ever learn?" Rainbow hovered over the little ponies as they splashed and swam to the far side. When Archer swallowed a mouthful of water and started coughing, Dash flew over and gently lifted her up and out of the water until she was ready to start swimming again. The big red pony smiled as he watched Rainbow shout encouragement at Archer as she swam to rejoin the others.

Dinky's team reached the other side first. Silver Spoon and Snails stopped swimming a few body lengths from the shore.

"Hey, what is this?" Rainbow Dash flew overhead. "You aren't finished until you get to the other side! First place or fiftieth, you ALWAYS finish what you start!" She shook her mane. "And c'mon! Let's hear some cheering for your teammate!" She added, pointing at Archer.

"Come on Archer!" Snails called as he reached the other side.

"You can do it!" Silver Spoon chimed in. Archer, panting, picked up her pace until she reached her teammates, who hugged her when she arrived.

"Now *that's* what I'm talking about!" Rainbow whooped as she landed on the shore. "There, was that so hard?" She teased, only to throw her wings up over her as six tired but still feisty little ponies started splashing her. "Oh you are SO asking for it!" Rainbow shouted as she charged into the water, determined to avenge herself. "Take this! And that! And that!"

By the time Big Mac circled around the edge of the lake, six bedraggled little ponies and one soaked, overgrown filly had dragged themselves out of the lake. Seeing him approach, Rainbow quickly tucked Dinky under her wing and moved off to be by themselves.

Disappointed, the giant stallion sat down. "Hey, Big Macintosh?" He turned around. It was Archer.

"What's up Archer?" He asked. The little filly rubbed her hoofs together before saying meekly.

"Um, Silver Spoon's still feeling upset…can you go talk to her?" She bit her lip.

"Ah reckon so." Mac nodded as he trotted over to the lonely silver filly, Archer tagging along. "Silver Spoon?" He asked gently. She just sniffed and turned away.

"Go away." Silver pouted. "You're just going to yell at me too, even though I didn't do anything!"

Macintosh sat down, his bulk giving the little filly shade from the morning sun. "Ah'm not gonna yell. Ah just want to know whut happened."

"It's okay Spoony." Archer sat down on Silver Spoon's opposite side and put a hoof on her shoulder.

"No it's not!" Silver shook it off. "Just when I start to have a good time and make some new friends everypony accuses me!"

"Just calm down sugarcube and tell me what happened." Big Macintosh repeated, stretching out a hoof and giving her a shoulder hug. He was surprised when the typically proud and snobbish pony buried her head in his side.

"R-rainbow Dash yelled at me for putting poison ivy in Pip's flowers! She said I was being m-mean and jealous little brat and that I wouldn't ever change!" Tears welled up in her violet eyes, seemingly magnified by her large glasses. "But I *did* change, honest! It's Dinky who's being a brat! Not me!"

"Whoa there, what do you mean?" Big Macintosh held up a hoof. "What's Dinky done?"

"She's being mean!" Silver Spoon exclaimed.

Understandably confused, if not skeptical, he asked "She do something to you? Say something to you?"

"Not to me!" She shook her head. "To Pipsqueak!"

Big Macintosh was flummoxed. Apparently one can't spell flummoxed without lummox. He was one flummoxed lummox. He shook his head, dispelling his derailed train of thought. "Dinky was being mean to PIP?" He asked incredulously, wondering what Silver Spoon was trying to pull.

"Yeah! He's been so nice and she's just been ignoring him and sticking her nose in the air and acting like he was a bug underneath her hoof!"

Mac's eyes narrowed. "Like you used to do?" He asked in sudden understanding. Silver Spoon's face heated but she didn't turn away.

"Uh huh. But Pip was still so nice though! He didn't deserve to be treated like that…" Lower she added, "Nopony does."

"Ah'm glad to hear you say that." Big Mac gently hugged the sad pony. "Ah'm proud of you."

"R-really?" Silver Spoon wiped her glasses with her elbow, trying to hide how embarrassed she was feeling.

"Eeyup. Ah have t'admit, from what mah little sister and her friends told me about you, ah didn't think you'd ever realize that teasing and making a pony feel bad is wrong. But it turns out that ah was the one who was wrong and I'm sorry that ah didn't think you could change. Everypony's capable of change ah suppose. And Ah'm powerful sorry if anypony leapt to conclusions and blamed you for somethin' you didn't do."

Archer piped up. "This is actually my fault Big Macintosh. I was the one who put the poison ivy in the flowers—but I didn't know that Pip was going to give them to Dinky! We were planning to give Rainbow Dash the flowers and, well, I guess there was a mix up and…"

"Actually it's my fault." They looked up to see Sweetie Belle walk over, her head and tail hanging down. "I told Dinky Doo that boys like it when girls act all lady-like the way they do in my sister's stories and I suggested to Pipsqueak that he give her flowers and I'm SO sorry and I didn't mean for this to happen and—"

Big Macintosh put his hoof gently over her mouth, amazed at the ability for such tiny ponies to pack so much into a single breath. "Ah think ah get the idea."

Sweetie's eyes watered as she looked over at Silver. "Dinky isn't a bad pony Silver Spoon! I just thought that Pip would like her if she acted more fancy and sophisticated. Like…"

"You mean like I acted?" Silver asked in confusion. "You *hated* it when I acted like that."

"…Well, I figured that colts would like it better?" Sweetie said lamely. Archer facehooved.

"Why don't ah leave you girls to talk this out while I go see how Dinky's doing." Macintosh stood. Three fillies talking about colts they like was the last place Big Mac wanted to be. He shuddered at the thought of Apple Bloom going through puberty. Applejack was bad enough…

Dinky was by herself again, facing away from the rest of the group as Rainbow prepared a camp fire to help dry the swimmers off. "Sugarcube? You all right?" He asked gently, sitting down next to her.

She shook her head and sniffled. "I miss mommy."

"That's t'be expected." Big Mac offered her a hanky.

"Thank you…" Dinky mumbled as she blew her nose.

"What did Miss Dash say?"

"Well, Auntie Rainbow…"

"Auntie?" Big Mac repeated, quirking a brow.

Dinky flushed. "That's what I call her. She and Carrot Top are real good friends of my mommy, so they're like my aunts! Rainbow Dash comes over and a foalsits for me sometimes and we color and play games and have lots of fun!"

"That sounds mighty nice." Big Macintosh shuffled awkwardly. "So what did she say?"

"She said she was sorry about the prank stuff. She said that it was all an accident, that Pip didn't mean to give me give me poison ivy and that she shouldn't have started this prank war and was sorry she wasn't a better counselor and—"

"Hold up there. Rainbow Dash said all that?" Big Macintosh asked. He didn't think Rainbow Dash ever admitted to being wrong, much less apologize. Dinky nodded.

"I told her that she was the bestest counselor ever and it wasn't her fault! Usually I think pranks are fun but…" she scuffed her hoof. "…when I thought Pip did it…hurt." She whimpered.

"Why's that?"

"He…Pip's my friend. My good friend. And I thought—" she sniffed. "I thought that when did that it was like he was saying that didn't like me the way I liked him. And it hurt so ba-ad!" Her voice hitched.

Big Macintosh felt his heart melt. "C'mere…" He scooped her up in his big hooves and gave her a hug. "Shh, there there. I was jest talking to some of yer friends. This whole thing is just a misunderstanding. There's no way Pip or any of your friends would want to hurt you."

"I-I know that." Dinky squeaked, surprising him. "I figured out later that it was an accident. Rainbow Dash said that too. Only now I yelled at Pip *and* Sweetie Belle and if they weren't mad at me before they're sure to be mad at me now!"

"It'll be okay." He assured her. "Ah'm sure Pip and Sweetie are still your friends."

Dinky scrubbed her eyes. "But I don't know if I want Pip to be my friend! I mean, I do but I also want him to be more than my friend, like a super special somepony friend and—"

"Sugarcube, ain't you getting a little ahead of yourself?" Big Mac rubbed her mane. "Plenty of time for all that. Just worry about making friends and havin' a good time with them. The rest'll tend to itself."

"A-Auntie Rainbow said the same thing." Dinky admitted, which surprised Macintosh.

"Hrm, what else did, ah, Auntie Rainbow say?" He was curious now.

Dinky thought hard. "Well, she said that sometimes when you really care about a pony and they hurt your feelings—even if they didn't mean to—that it hurts a whole lot more than when some other pony does it."

Out of the mouths of foals…. "Go on."

"Rainbow Dash said that friends can sometimes do things that really hurt…even if they don't mean to. But the only way to avoid that is to not have any friends at all and she said that would be even worse. Nothing's more important than making friends."

Macintosh's wheat sprig fell out of his mouth in sure surprise. Granny always said that still waters ran deep…she didn't say anything about raging rapids having hidden depths, but sure enough he found himself up to his withers in it.

"Didn't she say anything about her family? Ah mean, yer family?" He amended quickly.

"Well, she did say that I was lucky because I had my mommy and Auntie Carrot Top and they'd always be there for me." She paused in thought. "I don't think Auntie Rainbow Dash has a family."

"What makes you say that?"

"I asked her about her mommy and daddy one time when she was helping me make a mother's day present for mommy. She just said that me and mommy and her friends were enough and that she didn't need anypony else."

"…" Big Macintosh felt his heart sink into his hooves. He rubbed Dinky's back. "Sounds like mighty sound advice she gave you." He said at last. "Why don't you think about it a bit more and then try talking to Pip later, okay?"

"M'okay. Thank you Big Macintosh."

As the red pony started walking away, he noticed Rainbow Dash approaching Dinky again out of the corner of his eye. By the time he reached the other side of their makeshift camp, he found himself once again being sought out.

Pipsqueak padded over to Big Macintosh. "Mr. Macintosh?"

"Eeyup, Pip?"

"C-can I talk to you?" The tiny colt asked, seeming all the more small as he was literally cast in the shadow of the largest pony in Ponyville.

"S'long as your mouth works." Mac said amiably as he lifted the colt up onto the log he was sitting on.

Pip's eyes widened as he clung to the giant red limb. "Whoa!" He shook his head. "Thanks. I wanted to know if…have you ever made a girl sad?"

Big Macintosh wondered why the universe seemed destined to rub his mistakes into his face. Had he insulted it in some fashion? He sighed. "…eeyup." Mac nodded glumly, sparing a quick glance in Rainbow Dash's direction. "'Bout the lowliest feelin' ah've ever known."

Pipsqueak lowered his ears until they were flat against his head. "I made Dinky cry…" He sniffed, rubbing at his eyes. "And now she hates me…"

Wrapping a leg around the little colt, Big Mac shook his head. "Nah, ah dun think so. That filly ain't got a mean bone in her body. She doesn't have it in 'er to hate anything or anypony."

"I just wanted to be friends." Pip looked down. "We had so much fun! Then she started acting all weird like she was ignoring me and then I wanted to do something nice so we could be friends again but that didn't work and now she won't talk to me at all and—"

"Whoa there! Take a breath." Pip did, taking several haltering, almost hitching breaths. "Seems t'me what you got here is failure to communicate." Big Macintosh raised his voice. Rainbow Dash half-turned around to listen. "If you've gone and upset somepony, whether you meant to or not, the only thing to do is to apologize." His voice carried across the campsite. "Even if that pony doesn't want to hear it, you've still got to say it, cuz it ain't just about them. It's about you and the kinda pony you are." Big Mac shuffled his giant hooves, uncomfortable with all the attention he received. "Yer character is set pretty early in life and it's harder to change the older you get. You need ta decide: are you the type of pony who, when you know you've done wrong, are just gonna walk away from a problem you made—intentionally or not—or are you gonna stick with it until you fix it? When you see somepony who needs a hoof, are you gonna help them out, or just walk away because they don't wanna accept it at first? Will you just give up as soon as things look hard?"

Pip looked over to Dinky, who was rubbing her eyes and trying not to look like she was listening in on their conversation. Then he looked back at Big Macintosh, hanging on every word.

Big Macintosh closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Kin ah tell you about a pony I know?" Pip nodded quickly. "There was a special filly ah once knew. Ah didn't like her much at first. She seemed too loud, too self-confident and self-absorbed. She could get me so upset that ah went and said some things ah really wish I hadn't. It wasn't until later that I found out that I had her figured all wrong." He sighed. "It took me a while to realize it. Like a lot of ponies, ah was too caught up in first impressions to see the truth that was right in front of me. Ah overlooked her bravery because ah was focusing of her brashness. Ah ignored her courage because ah saw it as arrogance. And ah resented her friendliness because ah mistook it for being carefree. So while this mare was giving us her best every minute of every day, ah was busy judging her."

Looking up, he saw Rainbow Dash staring at him with her rosey eyes wide and shimmering, her jaw trembling as she clenched it shut. Macintosh's green eyes met hers. He was looking at her and kept speaking to Pip "But ah was wrong. So wrong. Ah said some hurtful, nasty things and ah couldn't get the chance to tell her how sorry ah really was. Ah thought ah knew her…turns out ah didn't know her much at all. Ah'd like to though. Still would. If…ifn she'd have me."

Big Macintosh looked back down to Pip. "Ah spoke with Dinky. She's not mad with you Pip. And ah think she's ready to talk. Remember: a strong friendship can withstand any storm."

"Okay Big Macintosh." Pip wiped his eyes with his leg. "Thank you." He hopped off and scampered over to Dinky. Rainbow Dash got up to leave them alone and she headed over to Big Mac.

"Think they'll be okay?" She asked him hoarsely, some unidentified emotion caught in her throat. The work pony smiled as Dinky wrapped her hooves around Pip in a giant hug.

"Eeyup."


	9. Chapter 9

Sweetie Belle stared Silver Spoon down. Their eyes narrowed as they locked sights in a test of will and determination. "All right, truth or dare?"

"Dare!" Silver Spoon shot back, sounding more bold and confident than she'd ever felt with Diamond Tiara around to back her up.

Sweetie grinned. "I dare you to dance around the campfire singing the goofiest song you know!"

Silver climbed to her hooves. "Okay…and I already know the silliest song I've ever heard." With a big smirk she started prancing around the campfire singing one of the self-laudatory songs Rainbow Dash had sung during an earlier sing along. "Here she comes, here comes Dash Rainbow, she's a demon on wings! She's a demon and she's gonna be chasing after somepony!"

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash managed to look affronted without even really knowing the word itself. "That song is awesome! It's gonna be a major hit when I'm a Wonderbolt!" She shook her hoof at the giggling, dancing filly and couldn't help but smile. She had to admit, Silver Spoon did have some spunk in her and wasn't afraid to say when she didn't like something. Problem was, that was all too often most things. Still, she couldn't deny that the ex-bully was getting better.

" …and when the odds are against you and there's dangerous work to do, you can be your life Dash Rainbow, will see it through!" Silver pirouetted, gently rubbing Pip's head with one hoof as she gave the goofiest, serious 'cool' face she could muster. "Go Dash Rainbow, go Dash Rainbow, go Dash Rainbow Dash!" She started flapping her limbs as if in mimicry of wings. "She's up and flying as she jams her wings around the track! She's jamming on her feathers like she's never coming back! Adventure's waiting just aheaaaaad! Go Dash Rainbow! Go Dash Rainbow! Go Dash Rainbow Daaaash!" Silver tossed out her forelegs and took a deep bow while the other fillies and colts laughed and applauded. Night had fallen and the campers and their counselors were sitting around a fire, roasting marshmallows and playing truth or dare.

She sat down and gently nudged Sweetie Belle. "Admit it, I totally nailed that!" Silver Spoon grinned as she looked around the campfire. "Hmmmm…Dinky!" Silver Spoon pointed. "Truth or Dare?"

"Truth." Dinky said warily, half afraid that Silver Spoon would make her say something mean about her mom…but as it turns out Rainbow Dash had taken the poison ivy opportunity to permanently straighten Silver out on Ditzy. It's a good thing Silver's hair was already light gray, otherwise it would've probably turned pure white by the time Rainbow Dash was through.

Instead, she asked "What's the funniest thing you've ever seen your sister Sparkler do?"

Dinky giggled. "Oh, that's easy! One time she was showering and wanted me to get the door if her coltfriend came by, so I let him in and showed him upstairs and he walked in on her while she was singing in the shower!" Her smile was so wide in threatened to bisect her head. "She was singing DJ-P0N3's 'Equestria Girls' into a bar of soap and everything! And it was really BAD!" Everypony fell over laughing. "And when her coltfriend starting clapping she turned around and squealed really loud and fell back in the tub!" She finished.

"Ahaha, oh geeze that's rich." Rainbow wiped a tear of mirth away from her eye. Dinky turned to her. "Rainbow Dash, truth or dare?"

"No more dares." Big Macintosh butted in. "Ah don't think ah can survive another Rainbow Dare." The last time Rainbow Dash had been dared, it entailed Rainbow Dash trying to bronco-buck Big Mac. He didn't know HOW to feel about that!

"Pfff." Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs. "Fine then, truth."

Dinky's eyes gleamed. "Do you liiiiiike anypony?"

A collective 'oooooooh' went around the campfire, Snails paying particular attention. Rainbow Dash felt a flush work her way up her neck.

"No offense Dinks, but that's super lame." She rolled her eyes.

"C'mon Rainbow Dash! Do you have a pony you want to be your special somepony?" Sweetie wheedled, giving her the big moist doe-eyed look.

"That kinda lovey-dovey stuff is for Rarity." Dash shrugged, feigning disinterest. "I'm a world-class athlete."

"Ah woulda thought a pony like you'd be beating off stallions with a stick." Big Mac said a hint of a tease in his voice. Rainbow whipped her head around so fast he thought she was in danger of breaking her neck.

"Hay, I have plenty of guys who'd give their left hind leg to ask me out!" She shot back without thinking. "Hay I bet there are even more than a la—" she trailed off as she remembered at the last minute that they had a young audience. "—ads, er lads, who would want to go out with me." She finished lamely.

"Then whut's stopping you?" Macintosh pressed.

"When you're the best you can't just settle for anypony!" Rainbow Dash snorted. "Any guy I'd want to date would have to be about 20% cooler than your average pony. He'd have to be athletic, tough, wicked cool…" She trailed off, closing her eyes so she wouldn't have to look at those green eyes of his. "…somepony really dependable and, brave and strong and good and—and…"

"Loyal?" Big Mac asked quietly.

She risked opening her eyes. "Yeah." Rainbow breathed softly.

They just sort of stared at one another until she coughed and suddenly shook her head. "A heh, right, whose turn is it? Oh, right! It's mine! Pipsqueak, you know the drill."

"Truth!" He piped up.

"Okay: what was the best part of this trip?" Rainbow Dash asked with a knowing smirk.

Pipsqueak frowned in thought. Then his eyes lit up. "Oh, I know! It was all the great new friends I made! This was the best time ever!"

"Awwww…." Came the inevitable response from Sweetie Belle, Archer, Dinky, and Silver Spoon. Snails just gave an oddly endearing yet still goofy smile. Rainbow Dash smiled and rolled her eyes. Between his voice, demeanor, size and accent Pip could get those fillies to go 'awww' even if he were to announce that he had to go blow his nose.

He is going to be such a ladies stallion when he grows up. She thought snerking at the idea of how many pretty fillies' heads would turn when he went past…and then would be snapped off when Dinky got hold of them.

But before she would let herself get distracted by mushy stuff, Rainbow Dash remembered to prod Pip to take his turn. He dared Archer to do something she'd never had the nerve to do in public and she did. She played the Equestrian national anthem…with her underarms. And it wasn't a half-bad rendition at that.

Then she dared Snails and came up with a doozy for it. Everypony stood in a circle with Snails in the middle. Archer had Snails close his eyes and spin around and around in a circle. Whoever he was facing when he stopped, he would have to kiss. Snails grin threatened to extend past his face. He started to spin.

…A yellowish-green whirlwind spun in place as the young unicorn practically turned himself into a drill. Then his long gangly legs got in their own way and he tripped. He didn't fall, but he did stumble in a lurching, awkward way. Snails opened his eyes just in time to see the purple of Silver Spoon's widened as he fell towards her, their lips brushing as he collided with her, knocking them both off their hooves.

Silver Spoon lay flattened on her back, staring upwards at Snails as he lay on her with a sheepish grin. Then he belatedly broke their impromptu lip locking session. "Hi?" He said with a strangled grin Archer fell on her back, clutching herself as she laughed in imitation of Rainbow Dash who was just barely preventing herself from doing the same thing

Silver pushed Snails off and rubbed her mouth with the back of her hoof. "Ugh!" She groaned, looking anyplace but Snails' face.

Snails pouted, his cheeks still red, but he looked around for his turn. "Sweetie Belle, truth or dare, eh?"

"Truth!" The white unicorn giggled.

"Alright…" He looked at the annoyed look on Silver Spoon's face, her hooves crossed across her chest. Then he asked Sweetie Belle the first thing he could think of. "Do you think I'm stupid?"

And just like that, the atmosphere of the camp turned so fast one could almost feel like they had gotten whiplash. "O-oh course I don't!" Sweetie Belle stammered.

Snails looked down, his ears flattened. "Yeah you do." He mumbled.

"Nu-uh!" She shook her head. "I mean, I think sometimes you act a bit goofy…" she hurried when she saw his face fall, "But lotsa ponies don't think I'm very smart either because I have trouble paying attention and sometimes I miss stuff that's going on." She admitted with a tiny flush. "M-maybe that's just your problem too?"

"Sweetie's right Snails." Rainbow Dash nodded, taking a sip of cider. "I mean, there are ponies like Twilight who are WAAY smarter than me. I mean, I'm not an egghead after all—but she told me that just because I'm an amazing, world-class athlete doesn't mean I'm not smart." She might have embellished what Twilight had said to her but the message was the same. Rainbow leaned over and mussed his mane with her hoof. "And just because you don't always 'get' stuff doesn't mean you're stupid."

"Eeyup." Big Macintosh nodded. "Jest like ah told you."

Archer gave Silver Spoon a not-so gentle nudge with her elbow and then nodded her head towards Snails. With a barely subdued groan Silver put her hoof on Snails' shoulder, much to his surprise.

"I—I don't think you're dumb either." She said quietly, kicking her legs against the log. Looking up, she saw Snails' eyes water as he sniffed and proceeded to squeeze Silver Spoon in a rib-breaking hug. She frantically looked to Archer for help only to find that she was hugging her from the other side, leaving Silver Spoon in the middle of a three-way hug sandwich with her, Snails and Archer.

Dinky and Sweetie Belle awwed as Dinky hugged Pip. Sweetie Belle grinned as she took advantage of the distraction to coat the discarded marshmallows with peanut butter, the result being that when Silver Spoon, Archer and Snails next took a bite out of them, they couldn't pry their mouths open for a good five minutes.

As that round of truth or dare came to an end, Rainbow Dash stood up and stretched. "Okay, take five everypony while we wait for the next round to start. But before I forget…" Rainbow turned around. "I promised the winner of the burping contest a ride. I figure it's time she got her reward. Let's go Silver Spoon!"

"R-really?" She was hesitant, firstly because she thought Rainbow Dash hated her and secondly because the prospect of flying seemed kinda scary.

"Wouldn't have said it if I didn't." Rainbow tossed her mane. "C'mon. Up you go." She lowered her rear legs, letting Silver Spoon slowly clamber up. "Hang on." Rainbow Dash flapped her wings, once, twice and then she was off!

Silver almost swallowed a bug as they zoomed off from the ground. In less than a few seconds the campsite had shrunk to a tiny model from her perspective. The forest stretched out in all directions as Rainbow Dash zoomed higher and higher.

"Whoaaaaaaaaa!" Silver Spoon's braid whipped out behind her. She wrapped her little hooves around Dash's neck and refused to let go, burying her face in her mane.

"Ack! Easy there, I need to breath!" Rainbow gasped as she twisted her neck. Silver Spoon loosened her grip. "Thanks! Now come on, take a look around! Most earth ponies never get to experience a view like this!"

Whimpering, Silver pulled her hooves away from her face and took a quick peek around. Then she took a longer one. "Oh wow…" Her purple eyes grew large as they took in the sights…the forest, the river, the dim lights of Ponyville beyond, Canterlot resting snugly against the mountains that ringed Equestria…It all looked so small that she could just reach out and grab them in her hooves. "This is—amazing!" She squealed as she hugged Rainbow Dash's neck again, this time in sheer glee.

"Told you so." Dash smirked. "Now you get to travel in style!"

After a few moments, Rainbow Dash cleared her throat and did her best to turn her head to look at Silver Spoon without losing track of where she was flying or breaking her neck. "Look, squirt. I just wanted to say…sorry about before. You know, when I accused you and yelled and...stuff."

"Oh." Silver shuffled awkwardly on Rainbow's back. "It's okay."

"No, it's not." The older pony shifted her shoulders. "Can I be square with you? Okay, well I first thought that you were just a whiny, snobby little pony who bullied other kids. And I *don't* like bullies." She paused while she tried to marshal her thoughts as Silver did her best to try to shrink down and hide—which wasn't easy to do considering she was riding on Rainbow's back and they were flying in the air. "But…" Rainbow said at last, "You really started turning things around. You made friends with Archer and you've been pretty cool to Sweetie Belle and Big Macintosh told me about what happened and, well, I'm sorry I was so hard on you."

"T-thank you." Silver Spoon mewled softly.

"Look, I'm not too great at this whole mentoring thing," Rainbow Dash admitted. "But I think a lot of ponies like you better now than they did when you were acting mean. So just keep up the good work and we'll be cool." She coughed. "All right enough of this awkward stuff. Time for you to get some serious air!" With a quick barrel roll and neat loop de loop, Rainbow gave Silver Spoon the greatest ride ever. For a full ten minutes, Silver Spoon felt lighter than air. She closed her eyes and spread her hooves apart, imagining that she was the one flying. It was incredible.

When they finally landed, Silver Spoon's glasses were askew and her usual neatly bound braid was a swooped back mess. But her smile was practically glued on to her face.

After Silver stopped giggling and returned to her senses, round two of truth or dare continued. It came a close when Rainbow Dash was dared to drink a whole thermos of cider—which she did eagerly—and then told not to budge from her spot for fifteen minutes. That proved harder to do, especially for the easily bored and flighty pegasus. It was about twelve minutes later when she announced with a strained voice and crossed legs that she quickly announced an end to truth or dare and that they would start telling ghost stories right after she got back. Then she zoomed off even faster than usual to much amusement and laughter from the campers.

When she came back it was with a much relieved expression and a vicious smirk. "All right, gather round everypony!" She sat back down in the circle. "Now," Rainbow Dash grinned as she leaned forward so that the crackling fire cast shadows across her face. "It's time for ghost stories! And I've got the best one ever! It's the tale of a maniacal pink pony and her smile…"

"..and THAT'S why you never break a Pinkie Promise." Rainbow Dash finished with a menacing grin, all six little ponies huddled together and shaking in their horseshoes. Even Big Macintosh looked rattled which she counted as a major win in her book.

She yawned, stretching her forelegs and wings until she heard a faint pop. "Well, it's getting late. Time to turn in guys." She gave a smug, wicked little grin. "Pleasant dreams."

With some forced sounding laughs the little fillies and colts warily made their way to their tents. Rainbow Dash was about to do the same when Big Macintosh stood in her way.

"Can ah borrow you for a minute?"

Rainbow grumbled but relented as they walked just outside the campsite after they saw the campers into their tents. "What's up big guy?"

"Ah wanted to say in pony how sorry ah am fer what ah said last night. Ah'm sorry Miss Dash." Big Mac sighed.

"Really?" Rainbow brightened briefly, before a twinge of her conscious kept her from crowing over his apology. "Well…" She scuffed her hoof, suddenly channeling Fluttershy. "That stuff I said about you and your family was way out of line."

"Eeyup." Big Mac nodded. "But t'aint yer fault. It's mine. Ah forget sometimes that the Apple way ain't the only way."

Rainbow Dash shuffled her wings, a sure sign of awkwardness among pegasi. "I—I don't want you to get the wrong idea. Hay, I really like you Apples. What pony doesn't? I just…"

"Jest what?" Big Macintosh asked curiously.

"I just don't get you guys sometimes." Rainbow admitted.

Macintosh shrugged his massive shoulders. "We're just a family is all. No different than anypony else's ah reckon, right Rainbow?" Rainbow bit her lip and looked away. "Oh." Big Mac felt like the biggest dolt in the world. "Ah'm sorry, ah didn't know—"

"I don't want to talk about it." She said curtly.

"…all right."

Silence reigned for about half a minute before Rainbow Dash took a breath and started speaking again. "I meant what I said: I really don't get you Apples sometimes." She looked up at him. "It's great that you guys are so close and that you work real hard and stuff—but, don't you want anything for yourself? For Big Macintosh—that isn't just being a member of the Apple family?" She took a deep breath. "I get loyalty…" Rainbow started again. "But I just don't get how you guys can just give up EVERYTHING like that. I was being a jerk about it, but I meant it. Don't you have any dreams of your own? Don't you have anything you want for yourself?

"That's a mite personal sugarcube. And a big question t'boot." Mac chewed his wheat. "All a kin say is: o'course ah do. Everypony was their own dreams and wants and needs. But being part of a family you care about means having to sometimes give up what you want for what your family needs. Sure it's hard sometimes but ah think mah family's worth it." He was about to ask 'don't you?' but bit his tongue at the last moment.

Rainbow Dash looked a bit like a filly that had just lost her puppy. "I guess that must make me look pretty selfish huh?" The way Big Mac had talked about his family made Rainbow wonder whether her lifelong dream of joining the Wonderbolts was just that: a dream of a filly that she should be outgrowing.

But Macintosh surprised her, shaking his head. "Eenope, that's not what ah meant. Chasing yer dreams is one of the greatest things a pony can do. It's just that cuz of how ah was raised, my dreams are pretty entangled with my family's well being. But I'm guessing from whut you said that you didn't have that growing up. You had to find your own dream to follow and had t'follow it alone. Ah gotta say, that's mighty impressive."

She gave a wane grin. "Yeah, I know, I'm awesome." Rainbow Dash winked. He chuckled knowing when he was being put on. She continued. "But I don't know…would your family really want you to give up so much for them? If Twilight were here she'd probably say something smart about how if you're denying your dreams then you can't be true to yourself, then you can't really be true to your family either." She paused. "Or, ya know, something like that." She added, shrugging awkwardly, not using to waxing philosophical. Big Mac looked at her as if in a new light.

In a way, the two had reached the crux of what made them different. They were two very different ponies, not just in physical structure, but what they represented. Big Macintosh who embodied hard work and dedication to family and hearth, and Rainbow Dash who embodied dreaming and was unshakeable confidence needed to obtain it. They each, in their own different way, knew what it was to dedicate themselves entirely and tirelessly to achieve their goals. Neither was a stranger to hardship or hard work (even if one tended to be a bit squeamish towards hard work that didn't directly involve her goals). Their difference lay in their choice between sensibility and practicality on one hoof, and the extraordinary and amazing on the other. That which set them apart also created a bond between them. Big Mac gave Rainbow Dash a nod. Nothing more needed to be said. They might not see eye to eye (literally) but they could understand at least where the other was coming from.

Rainbow Dash shuffled, something else on her mind. "But…I dunno, sometimes I wonder why AJ isn't the Element of Loyalty—or you for that matter. The way you two work so hard for your family, the way you care about one another and all the stuff you do for each other—sometimes it seems like it'd fit you guys better than me. You're super loyal." Her usual confidence slipped slightly and she looked away.

Big Mac gave a sympathetic hoof pat. "To tell you the truth Rainbow, ah thought a bit about this whut when ah found out about Applejack being the Element of Honesty and all that a ways back." He sat on the ground. "And yer right AJ is very dependable and loyal and she knows it. But the thing is that there're different KINDS of loyalty." He chomped on his wheat for a moment while he made sure the cyan pegasus was following his reasoning. "Remember when you all went out to Appleloosa?" He waited for a nod. "Right, and there was that argument with the buffalo and the orchard and you went out to track them buffalo down and ended up taking their side in an argument against the settlers?"

Rainbow couldn't help but flinch a little. "Yeah, I guess I wasn't being all that loyal, huh?"

Big Macintosh shook his head. "Eenope, ah think you were being even MORE loyal."

"Say what now?" She was understandably confused.

"You were able t'take a step back and take a side based on what you thought was a matter of right and wrong. Applejack and I—well we're Apple ponies to the core, no pun intended. But the thing about families is that we always support each other—even when we know one of them's done wrong. Family is family and blood is thicker than water an' all that. AJ would never have sided with strangers against her kin, even if they were in the wrong. At least, she'd have been more than a mite torn up about it. Cain't say I wouldn't be neither. But you were bein' loyal to what you thought was right, even if you didn't know or even like the buffalo. That's a kinda of loyalty that knows no bounds." Big Macintosh resisted the urge to grin as Rainbow's rose eyes widened until they filled half her face. "Ah'm powerful sorry that you don't have a family Rainbow. But that means that you kin go wherever the wind may take you and make your own loyalties to anypony you want as you go. Loyalty in family is bound by blood since birth and that cain't ever be changed. Loyalty from conviction is another thing entirely and that's why YOU'RE the Element of Loyalty." He paused as he massaged his jaw, not used to talking so much at length. "Eeyup."

"Huh, bu, wha—when did YOU think so much?" Rainbow Dash couldn't help yelping in shock. She'd never heard of him stringing that many sentences together. Big Mac spread his hooves apart helplessly.

"Just on account of ah'm a farmer doesn't mean ah can't think about things. When AJ told me she was the 'Element of Harmony' and her friends were the others, ah got to thinking a lot about whut that meant and why it suited her so well." He sighed. "Ah know she'd whup me if she ever heard me admit it, but ah worry about her and all the adventures you lot go on: facing dragons and monsters and evil spirits of chaos on what not."

"Hey, it's cool." Rainbow Dash hovered off the ground and demonstrated a swift kick or two. "We can take care of ourselves, especially AJ. Maybe not *quite* as good as ME, but close!"

"Heh, you sure do know how to put a fella's mind at ease." Mac drawled. Rainbow smiled then suddenly grimaced and landed back on the ground. "You okay?" He asked quickly as he sat up and walked over.

Rainbow Dash nodded then gave a soft yelp as she worked a crick out of her neck. "Urg, yeah fine…I guess Silver Spoon might've held on a little too tight when I gave her that ride."

"Lemme have a look." The big red pony insisted. "Git on down." Rainbow grumbled and snorted but after a minute of mixed coaxing and arguing, she reluctantly lay on her belly the forest floor, her legs outstretched. Big Mac stood over her, gently prodding her neck and shoulders with his hoof. "Keep still." He added as she squirmed. "Looks like you've gone and got yerself all worked up and worked over."

Wincing at his prodding, Rainbow tried to be nonchalant. "Guess I'm more used to sleeping on clouds than on the rocky ground."

"Or our apple trees." Macintosh added.

"Which are surprisingly comfy." Rainbow retorted as Mac pressed down. She hissed. "Ow!"

"Sorry 'bout that." He started rubbing his hooves gently in circular motions around the spot that hurt. "That better?"

"Hmmmm….yeah, that's good." Dash breathed out the tension she didn't know she'd been carrying.

Macintosh kept quiet as he continued to massage Rainbow's neck and shoulders. He hesitated as he started to move his hooves downwards, taking her deep happy breaths as an indication to continue.

Rainbow felt a shiver work down her spine as she felt him brush her withers. She nickered happily before she could control herself, her tail flicking in pleasure. It was one thing to know that Big Macintosh was a gentle giant, but she'd not known that a pony that could buck trees, move houses and other unparalleled feats of strength could be so remarkably tender and even…sensuous.

She felt herself practically melting under his hooves. Then he started moving down, rubbing her in that reaaaally sensitive spot right between her wings when she…

Her eyes widened. Oh no. Oh Celestia NO. It couldn't, it wouldn't…her body couldn't be getting turned on by this! Rainbow put a hoof across her mouth and she bit down on it. Hard.

Must. Resist! Her mind screamed at her. Rainbow let out a muffled Fluttershy-soft moan, half in distress, half in pleasure that echoed in her own mind until it grew so loud she imagined that Princess Celestia could hear it all the way in Canterlot. Oblivious, Big Macintosh brought up his other hoof and ran it down her spine, from just below her wings to her rump, gently kneading her muscles. Rainbow Dash shivered. The warmth and weight of his hooves on her was absolutely heavenly.

Seeing her relax, Big Mac let his hooves start to move away from her neck and spine and move down to her sides, gently pressing and rubbing her flanks. Ever gently, he moved over her and started to brush his hooves right underneath the spot where her wings joined her body.

Rainbow felt her wings shudder and twitch as she fought to keep them closed. Oh please don't let me popfeather in front of him! She mentally begged, praying to whatever power was out there and could hear her. I'll never live it down oh please oh please don't—

FFWUMP! Rainbow's cheeks flushed crimson as she buried her face beneath her hooves, her wings fully spread out to her sides, almost painfully erect. I wonder if I could change my identity: get a new life, new name, a new home…she wondered in her mortification. She heard that Stalliongrad's nice this time of year.

If Big Macintosh knew what was signified by Rainbow Dash's reaction, he didn't let on. Instead he gently moved his hooves back up to her shoulders and continued to gently massage her there. Rainbow Dash let out a strangled mew of a sigh as she fought to get her wings back under control. They fluttered and twitched and slowly, oh so very slowly, folded back along her sides.

Finally, Big Macintosh stopped. On weak, wobbly legs Rainbow Dash climbed to her hooves feeling shaking more than she had after the Running of the Leaves. "T-thanks." She stammered, the tension in her back and neck gone but only because it seemed to have migrated and doubled in her stomach.

"Anytime." Mac said, which made Rainbow's knees knock at the very thought of it. What was with her? "Ah gotta admit," He went on. "Ah didn't know much 'bout you 'ceptin that you were AJ's friend and a mighty fine flyer and a bit of a show off who was more talk than hat." He gave a sheepish grin. "But between helpin' out with that whole Cider Season business and this here trip, ah gotta say that ah really didn't know the real you."

Rainbow Dash felt her heart start to hammer like Applejack's legs against a tree. She thought she was walking on air…turns out she was. Her wings were giving short fast flaps like a hummingbird, lifting her up. She licked her lips and leaned forward.

"Ah'm really glad ah got this chance to git to know you better. In fact," Big Mac went on. "You're a mighty impressive filly Rainbow. Hay, ah'd even—"

What he might even Rainbow Dash never knew because that's when she kissed him. She was barely aware of the decision—if there was a decision—until she felt her lips brushing against something and she opened her eyes to find Big Macintosh's green ones starting back at her with utter shock.

Rainbow felt each individual beat of her heart as she felt herself pale as she realized she'd made one of the worse decisions of her life and humiliated herself twice in one night. She pulled her face back, shivering in excitement and fear. "I—"

She didn't know what to say. Fortunately, she was spared from having to when Big Mac took a step forward and kissed her. A charge seemed to thrum through her body from her lips back to her tail as Rainbow Dash quivered in place. All she could think as she passionately returned the kiss were three words:

Best. Night. EVER!


	10. Chapter 10

Rainbow Dash felt herself melt away as she and Big Macintosh kissed. It was almost like she was in some state of bliss, Big Mac's smell of hay, sweat and apples in her nose, his moist lips pressing against her own…her eyelids fluttered. It was like she'd performed a Sonic Rainboom inside of her heart. Twice!

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity that was cut all too short, the two ponies pulled away and panted for breath. "That was…" Rainbow gasped. "so…awesome!"

"E-eyup." Big Macintosh's tongue hung out of his mouth as he tried to fan his ever redder than usual face with one of his massive hooves. "Whooee."

"Y-yeah." Rainbow wiped her forehead clear of sweat. Her face felt hot enough to fry an egg off it. "So, um, does this mean that…you know, you and me are-?"

"Ah—ah reckon so. If'n y'all want to be." Big Mac said quietly. He tried to hide his eagerness, his eyes roving all trying to look at anything but her face.

Rainbow Dash licked her own lips nervously then seemingly shuddered at the taste of apples left there. "M-mac? I think I want you to…you know. Bemyspecialsomepony. Andformetobeyours." She said the last two parts quickly in one quick breath.

"Ah'd like that more than all the apples in the world." Big Macintoh said trotting up to nuzzle her cheek, both of them blushing all the while.

Rainbow trotted in place, all but jumping up and down and squealing like she'd gotten the chance to fly with the Wonderbolts. She'd never felt this way about a pony before. A few days ago all she knew of Big Macintosh was that he was Applejack and Apple Bloom's big brother, didn't say much and worked the plow at Sweet Apple Acres. But now Big Macintosh was larger than life, so big and strong and kind and awesome and just…perfect.

She giggled like a little filly—a noise she hadn't made in a long time (ever, if you were to ask her)—as Big Mac breath warmed her cheek. Macintosh smiled. He liked that sound. It was cute. An idea struck him as he lowered his head down and gently bit down on the tip of Dash's ear. He was rewarded with a sudden squeal that was immediately followed by Rainbow biting down on her giggles and an even redder face.

"Quit it!" She said, but couldn't stop smiling. Rainbow nickered and nuzzled his cheek with her muzzle. "Big oaf."

Big Mac beamed as he tilted his face to make it easier for her. "Eeyup." He was smiling so much it was bordering on goofy.

After a moment of nuzzling, Rainbow backed away. "Say Mac? Um, I just wanted to say thanks. I mean, I really like you and you've just been really awesome to me since day one and I'm sorry that I've been kinda, you know…me."

"Shewt, don't you ever apologize fer bein' who you are." Big Mac tossed his head. "It's what ah like about you."

"Heh, yeah I guess but…can you tell me something? Honestly?"

"Ah'm an Apple. Ah don't know any other way."

"Right. Well…I guess I just wanted to know…why me?" Rainbow shuffled awkwardly.

"Cuz ah heard Princess Luna was taken." Mac replied easily, his voice pure deadpan.

Rainbow Dash goggled at him. Then after her brain took a moment to process his reply, she bit down on her lip again to stop giggling. Why was she so giggly around him? She was Rainbow Dash, coolest pegasus around and whenever he spoke she turned all giggly like Rarity! Not fair. "C-c'mon!" She whined. "Seriously!"

"Ya gotta ask?" Macintosh raised his brow questioningly. "All right, ah'll tell ya. Ah like how everything you do, you just throw yourself entirely into it, even mebe when you outta look before you leap. Ah like how you try to live life to the fullest and have fun doing it. Ah like your energy, your spunk, your bravery and loyalty…" He leaned down and gently cradled her head with his giant hooves. "And I like how underneath all your swagger and coolness is a really nice, great pony who always tries to help her friends out when they're in a jam. And I like how seeing you up in the sky, blazin' rainbows this way and that, makes me want t'look up and see whut's around me besides apples."

"Oh…oh wow." Rainbow Dash blushed brilliantly.

Big Mac chuckled. "A course, it helps that yer mighty cute when you do that." Then he shrank back when she tried beating him about the head and shoulders with her wings. "Ack!"

"I've said it before and I'll say it again: for the strong but silent type, you sure talk too much." Rainbow retorted, finally stopping her winged barrage.

Big Macintosh spat out a stray feather that had somehow ended up in his mouth. "Ptooh! Huh, as ah recall you were the one who complained at the start of all this that all ah ever said was eyup and eenope."

"I didn't know how good I had it until it was gone." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and nudged him with her elbow. Her smile faltered. "But, um, thanks. For answering I mean. It just feels a little…"

"Whut?"

"I dunno…sudden I guess? Don't get me wrong!" She added hurriedly, afraid he might get the wrong idea. "I—I really like this but…"

Big Mac nosed her shoulder gently. "You tellin' me that there's such a thing as 'too fast' for Rainbow Dash, the faster flier in Equestria?" He teased.

"No! That's not it!" She looked annoyed and even a little scared. "The thing about going fast is that the faster you go, the sooner you arrive at the end. And I don't…I don't want this to end." Her sandy voice grew even thicker and scratchier with barely repressed emotions, her final words coming as more of a plea than a statement.

"Aww, sugarcube." Big Mac gave her a sideways hug. "It t'aint like that a'tall." He said firmly. "And besides, this ain't as sudden for me as it is for you."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Well," Macintosh started. "You've been a big part of mah life longer than ah've been part of yours, even if we never sat down and talked." Rainbow Dash still looked confused. "Rainbow, ah don't think you unnerstand just how big a part you've played in mah family's life: You helped us out during Apple Buckin' season, you offered to help Apple Bloom with her Cutie Mark troubles, you helped solve Cousin Braeburn and Appleloosa's trouble with the buffalo, took down our old barn, helped me grind during the cider competition and offered to whoop those two bamboozling Flim Flam Brothers fer us."

"Heh, yeah, but my other friends were a part of most of that stuff too!" Rainbow pointed out.

"Mebe, but ah ain't done. You've also brought AJ back home to us. Twice. Ah don't think ah ever properly thanked for you that. Ah'm not even sure I ever could."

Rainbow Dash grew a bit flustered. "A heh, whoo…laying it on a little thick there big guy?" She wiped her suddenly sweaty brow. "I mean, again, we all went out after Applejack after the Equestria Rodeo Competition…"

"AJ told me that you were the one to run her t'ground. Literally." Big Mac butted in. "And what you told her about not caring if she came in first or fiftieth…that meant a lot to her, coming from you. She cares what you think about her. Anyway, that wasn't the first time you brought my little sister home."

"What are you talking abou…oh." Rainbow's eyes widened in realization. "You mean, my first Sonic Rainboom?"

"Eeyup. It showed Applejack the way home from Manehattan. It just about broke mah heart when she left. The day she came home and got her cutie mark was probably the happiest day of mah life. Not t'mention how you and your friends have made AJ happier than ah've ever seen her and all you've done to help Equestria." He added as if it were an after thought.

Rainbow felt her eyes growing wet. "Don't get all sappy on me big guy. It's contagious."

Big Macintosh sniffed, wiping his face. "Sorry miss tough filly. Dunno *what* ah was thinking." He smiled wryly.

"Eh, I guess I can forgive you this one time." Rainbow walked over and rubbed her head underneath his. "So, does that mean that you LIKE liked me even before this trip?"

"Eenope." Big Mac said so flatly that Rainbow Dash was actually a bit startled. "Ah was plum grateful for all you've done for mah kin and you seemed all right, but I still thought you were a bit…well, a bit of a big-headed show off without a whole lot of common sense."

Pause.

"…Subtle." Rainbow Dash grunted.

Big Macintosh shrugged helplessly as if to say 'well, you asked.' Then he coughed. "But ah don't think that now! You heard what ah told Pipsqueak. You were there. Anyway," he was eager to move onto another avenue of conversation. "Ah like your confidence. So why're you so confused why a feller'd like you?"

"I don't know…usually ponies like me after I do something incredibly cool for them." She backed up and sat down on the ground. "Usually I have to win a race or do a really neat trick or do a Sonic Rainboom before anypony gets really impressed with me. Here on this trip…I've done some cool stuff but nothing all that awesome, you know? So I just don't know what I did for you to like me now."

Big Mac started grinning. It was a genuinely amused smile with just a hint of smugness from knowing something some other pony doesn't. Rainbow Dash saw it in the mirror most days. She didn't like it being used on her now. "What?"

"You don't really get it, do you?" Macintosh was well and truly amused.

"Get what?" Rainbow threw her hooves in the air. "Will somepony start making sense?"

"Rainbow Dash you agreed to take a bunch of little ponies you didn't really know in the woods to teach them about survival and working together. A lot of them didn't even like each other none at the start and you helped bring them together. They've had fun together, learned together and a lot of new friendships were made." Big Mac regarded her. "You've done what you could to make this fun for them and when you made a mistake you did everything you could to make it right again. When they were upset, you were upset; you really care about them little ponies. To me, THAT is pretty durn awesome."

"R-really?" Rainbow was moritifed to hear her voice break into a squeak.

Big Mac nuzzled her cheek again. "S'like AJ tries to tell Apple Bloom: she does her best when she ain't trying so hard. And when you stop worrying about trying to be all awesome and amazing for other ponies and you just do what you do…is when you're at your most."

"Heh, I guess I am pretty amazing…" She beamed, rubbing a hoof against her chest before she winced, stopping. "…guess I don't always need to point it out though." She gave a weak grin. "Other ponies can figure it out on their own."

"They sure can." He winked. "Still, ah think it's cute when you go on about how awesome and cool you are." Mac rubbed her withers.

"You keep saying cute. That's NOT how you pronounce the word 'cool.'" Rainbow complained, shivering slightly at the feel of Big Mac's hooves as she leaned in for more.

Macintosh chuckled. Then a thought occurred to him. "So, 're you gonna tell me why you kissed me?"

"Because I heard Princess Luna was unavailable." Rainbow Dash answered in the exact same deadpan that Big Mac had used. Macintosh felt his eye twitch as the mental image it conjured up threatened to break his brainpan.

Rainbow Dash smirked. "Nice look you got going there. It suits you."

Mac shook his head clearing out all the odd and strangely alluring imagery. "Funny filly."

"Eeyup." Rainbow smirked at him. "And seriously, do you even have to ask? You're big, strong, really cool, you're really—ugh I can't believe I'm saying this—nice and stuff and…I feel like I can trust you. With anything." She smiled. "You're like the dream stallion for almost every mare in Ponyville and I bet more than a few of the stallions too."

THAT was an image Big Macintosh suppressed before it even had time to properly form. "Um, thanks Dash." He said in a strangled tone.

"No problem." Rainbow's easygoing grin faltered a bit. "I—I really like how I feel when I'm around you; like how you've always got my back and how you make me want to be an even better pony. It's…I don't really have the words for it."

Big Mac smiled and nuzzled her warm cheek again. "Then we just won't have to use any words, will we?"

Rainbow Dash blushed brightly as she fought the urge to cover her face with her hooves. She nuzzled him back. "Yeah, words are overrated. I wouldn't want you to call me shmoopy-woopy or whatever anyway.

"Very funny." Macintosh stuck out his tongue at her, prompting her to giggle at the dignified stallion's childish act. He leaned against her, his head gently laying atop of hers. "Can ah ask you something?"

"Yeah big guy?" Rainbow mumbled sleepily, pulling out one of her numerous nicknames for him.

"Kin you do me a lil ol' favor?" Mac crooned gently.

Rainbow's wings twitched. "Ooooh, name it!"

"…Can you tell be the one to tell AJ about us?"

"O-oh FORGET IT!" Rainbow's eyes snapped open wide. "Not a chance!"

"…Nuts."

Inside her sleeping bad, Sweetie Belle shivered. Her usually pleasant dreams were now being haunted by a frightening specter with a bone chilling laugh. And everywhere there was pink. The horrible horrible PINK!

"Aaaaah!" Sweetie Belle sat up with sudden shriek. "I swear I'll never break a Pinkie Promise! I promise!"

Dinky, her tent mate, rubbed her eyes. "Sweetie?" She rubbed her eyes as she sat up with a bad case of bed mane. "It was just a scary dream."

"O-okay. I knew that." Sweetie shivered as she lay back down and snuggled into her warm sleeping bag. Dinky sighed and did the same, delighting in the warmth and comfort. It didn't last. "Dinky?"

"…Yeah Sweetie?" Dinky cracked open one weary eye.

Sweetie Belle squirmed as she sat up. "I gotta go."

Her mind still half asleep, it took Dinky a few seconds to respond. "S'go."

"It's still dark out." The white unicorn gave a little squeak. "Could you walk with me please? So I don't get lost?"

"Okay." Dinky sighed as she stood up and stretched. "Let's just make it fast."

"Thank you!" Sweetie gave her a grateful hug.

With that, the two little fillies walked out of their tent and headed away from the camp for some privacy. Along the way, Dinky noticed Sweetie looking warily around her, practically jumping at every little noise. "Are you okay?" Dinky asked after Sweetie squealed when a stray leaf fell on her back.

"Y-yeah." Sweetie gulped. "I guess Rainbow Dash's story kinda got to me." She admitted, embarrassed.

"It's okay." Dinky gave her a quick nuzzle. "It was just make believe! There aren't any crazy ponies out here to get us!"

Sweetie giggled. "You're right. If Apple Bloom were here she'd say I was acting like a big chicken. There's nopony here."

Just then, Sweetie and Dinky each felt something tap them on the shoulder. "BOO!"

Sweetie Belle and Dinky Doo each out a high pitched squeal and jumped, clutching each other in midair. They landed on their backs and looked up to the sight of Silver Spoon and Archer laughing.

"Oh, that was too easy!" Archer laughed as she held out a hoof to help Dinky up. Silver took the hint and offered Sweetie her hoof. "Priceless!"

Sweetie dusted herself off. "That wasn't funny! I almost had an accident!" That only prompted more giggles from the two pranksters.

"What are you two doing out here anyway?" Dinky asked.

"We heard you guys get up and figured we'd have a little fun." Archer's eyes gleamed.

Sweetie glared at her. "Ha ha. Now well you got your little joke in, now why don't you go back to bed? C'mon Dinky, let's go."

Silver Spoon turned her head around. "Wait, do you hear that?"

"What is it?" Archer asked.

"Shhh!" Silver hushed her. "Sounds like somepony talking."

Sweetie Belle swished her tail, having none of it. "Nice try Silver Spoon. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame…shame on…well, I'm not falling for it!" She stamped her hoof determinedly.

"Wait, I hear it too!" Dinky whispered, perking her ears up.

"Let's go see who it is!" Archer said softly as she slowly headed towards the source, Silver Spoon and Dinky flanking her on either side. Sweetie Belle trembled, but afraid of being left alone, reluctantly followed them, grumbling all the while.

Suddenly, Archer stopped short. She crouched down and gently poked her face through a bush. "It's Big Macintosh! And Rainbow Dash!" She whispered urgently. The other fillies sat down and maneuvered themselves to get a look.

"What are they doing?" Sweetie whispered.

"Talking." Silver Spoon answered.

"I know that! But *what* are they talking about?"

"I don't know, I can't hear them when you're talking!"

"Everypony shhhh!" Dinky pointed. They all looked just in time to see Rainbow Dash and Big Macintosh lean in and kiss each other.

Dinky, Sweetie Belle and Archer let out identical sounding 'awwwwws' and even Silver Spoon couldn't help cooing.

"No wonder Big Mac didn't get together with Cheerilee!" Sweetie exclaimed softly. "This is so romantic!"

Dinky squeeed quietly. "Wait 'till I tell mommy! Auntie Dash has a *boyfriend!* Eeeheeheee! Ooh! Maybe this means that Big Macintosh will be my Uncle!"

"Sssssh! Keep it down or they'll hear you!" Archer hissed.

Sweetie Belle grinned. "Scootaloo and Apple Bloom won't even know what hit them!"

Silver Spoon rolled her eyes. "I guess I should've seen this coming. I mean, you all saw how much those two bickered on this trip."

She was answered with a chorus of knowing nods and "Hmm-mms"

Archer smirked. "Yeah! Rainbow Dash was totally acting like a colt who liked a filly but didn't want to show it!" She mused, scratching her muzzle.

"Do you think they liked each other all along?" Dinky asked.

Sweetie's eyes sparkled. "When do you think they'll get married?" A wide grin started to split her face…

Dinky, Silver Spoon, and Archer all had to pile on Sweetie Belle to suppress the Pinkie Pie-level squeal she was about to let out. Sweetie at least had the grace to look a little abashed. "Sorry." She whispered.

Silver Spoon rolled her eyes…then a stray thought entered her mind. "Hey, what about Snails?"

"Huh? Snails?" Dinky was confused. "What about him?"

"Duh! He totally has a crush on Rainbow Dash! When he finds out about her and Big Macintosh he's gonna be crushed!"

"I always wondered why they called it a crush…" Sweetie mused philosophically. "Maybe that's why."

Dinky pouted. "Ooh, poor Snails."

Archer looked at Silver sideways. "Yeah, good point. Maybe we shouldn't tell him?"

Silver looked away, grateful for the dark that hid the flush across her cheeks. "Uh, sure whatever. It isn't like I *care* about the dork or anything. I was just saying that not everypony is gonna be head over hooves about Rainbow Dash and Big Macintosh dating."

"Sure. Of course." Archer said in a voice that was anything but innocent.

"You guys?" Sweetie interrupted. "What's that?" They all looked where she was pointing her hoof. There was a sudden shaking in some bushes that were a couple of yards away from Rainbow Dash and Big Mac. As they shook, the little fillies saw a glimpse of orange and green.

"Oh no." Dinky sniffled as they heard the faint hoof steps of a little pony running as fast as he could. "It was Snails…he saw everything."

Sweetie Belle lowered her ears. "Awww…poor guy."

Archer turned when she heard an odd scraping noise. She looked to Silver Spoon who kept her face rock solid. It wasn't until she noticed the slight movement of her jaw that she realized that noise was Silver's teeth grinding together.

"Um, you okay?" She asked gently.

Silver Spoon said nothing for a moment. Then she slowly turned to Archer. "…Wanna put Rainbow Dash's hoof in a bowl of warm water when she goes to sleep?"

"…Sure."


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: I decided to edit the last chapter, so now the end of the last chapter is the start of this one. Sorry to make you all have to re-read it.

A FEW MINUTES EARLIER…

For a pony most reckoned to be slow, Snails was surprisingly a bit of a morning pony. For Snails he'd be delighted if he woke up at six every morning just to watch the sun rise, the town start to awake and best of all, for him to be left alone with plenty of time for the thoughts that occupied his mind.

Even though he had only been asleep for a few hours, he felt bright and refreshed enough to get up. There was no tiredness in his limbs and his mind felt clear. He turned his head to see Pip still curled up in his sleeping bag, looking as if the after-effects of Rainbow Dash's story were continuing to be felt.

Cautiously, Snails unzipped the tent flap and walked outside. He didn't move to do anything in particular, to sit or stand or even to walk around. But then, Snails wasn't a pony who ever did much. He wasn't an athletic pony—he still tended to trip over his rather gangly legs from time to time—nor was he much of an academic. Just getting started on his homework was a chore in and of itself, usually necessitating much prodding by his parents or Cheerilee or Snips.

Despite this, Snails spent most of his time doing something that other ponies didn't believe him capable of: thinking. He thought all the time about big things and small things and all the stuff that didn't quite make sense to him. Being young, this tended to include many things. So when he thought he would end up staring into space. Not, (as other ponies assumed) because he didn't have a thought in his head, but because he simply had too many.

Usually, to rose himself from his self-induced stupor, Snips would have to come along and get him interested in something to do, like that traveling show mare some months back.

[He thought back to Snips, beginning his philosophical questioning and self answering. Ever since he was on this trip, he slowly realized that he was on his own. Snips wasn't there to propel him into action. He had to do more than just thinking, and he was too slow to act on them, leaving him behind on many of the ordeals that went around him.

The whole flowers and poison ivy ordeal had still been a blur to him, and it had already been resolved the previous day. Rifts were mended and the foals were back on the right track, even their counselors had been feeling more at ease. Which was good. Snails didn't want Rainbow Dash being upset with something she couldn't handle by being awesome.

His thoughts soon derailed onto the pegasus. He idolized her, because ponies idolized her. She was the kind of hero ponies wanted to be, and wanted to befriend. Like the rainbows she wore, she was the hope of light after rainy storms, and she definitely knew how to make ponies happier. He hadn't thought that it would work on any pony, but after the joyride she gave Silver Spoon, all doubt had been erased from his mind.]

Enjoying the cold, crisp nighttime air, Snails looked up at the moon. It looked so big and bright…he wondered if Princess Luna moved it or if Princess Celestia still did it. What was it like to move the moon? Could you raise it too high or low? Could they drop it? Snails thought about asking if they could lower the moon so he could try walking on it. It looked like it would be fun.

A stray wisp of cloud moved in front of moon, probably some bit of cloud that the weather pegasi had missed. Snails thought that if Rainbow Dash was still in town, then that wouldn't have been allowed to happen. Still, it had happened and he decided to try to move around to see if he could observe the moon from another angle. Soon he was walking into the woods around the camp, his eyes trained on the sky.

The sound of a twig snapping brought his attention dirt side as he saw himself staring at Rainbow Dash as she stood in the middle of a small clearing, illuminated (if only just) by the partially blocked moon. Rainbow Dash looked as radiant as she always did in Snails' mind, but the bright smile and red cheeks were a new addition.

The cause was hard to miss as Big Macintosh rubbed his head against hers and flicked her side with his short tail.

Snails blinked several times, attempting to process the image before him. They were standing far too close to each other to be just friends. In fact, they looked like his mother and father did when they were feeling happy. He had woken up one morning early and walked in on his parents in a similar position, and when he brought it up, his father replied that it was natural for ponies in love.

These facts slowly added up into Snails mind and soon settled on the only plausible, irrefutable answer.

"Big Macintosh and Rainbow Dash are...married?" he thought. For a pony prone to thinking so many things at once that it often seemed like he was thinking of nothing, his brain suddenly refused to budge from the image before him and the conclusion it had drawn.

Rainbow Dash and Big Macintosh. Big Macintosh and Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash and…

Snails didn't even realize when he started running, much less where he was going. He just knew he had to get away from there and the single loud thought that threatened to overwhelm his brain. Rainbow Dash didn't love him. She probably barely knew he existed. She loved Big Macintosh. Of course she did. Big Macintosh was big and strong and brave…he was everything that Snails wasn't.

A strangled sob wrenched its way out of his throat. Snails knew that he wasn't fast, that he took a long time to think of stuff and that it was really hard for him…no wonder no pony at school liked him, except for Snips but Snails didn't think that was the same thing.

He'd heard of the expression a "broken heart" but never really understood it until now. There was the sharp ache in his chest that seemed to pierce clear through him. For a moment Snails wondered if the expression was literal, if his heart really was broken and if he was going to die now. He sure felt like he was about to.

Unable to go back to camp, Snails looked for the first sign of shelter nearby. Spying a cave through his teary eyes, he ran inside and collapsed against the wall, still crying. It wasn't until his sobs started to lessen that he heard a low rumbling noise. Snails looked at his stomach. He was hungry, but it wasn't rumbling. The noise sounded vaguely familiar but he wasn't sure where he had heard a noise like that before. It wasn't until he looked up and saw a pair of blazing yellow eyes looking at him hovering above a jaw full of glistening white teeth that he figured out what that noise reminded him of.

There was an angry growl followed by a roar. With a startled yell, Snails turned tail and started to run away. A sudden crashing noise behind him confirmed that he was being followed.  
>&amp; &amp; &amp;<p>

A quartet of tired fillies slowly made their way back to camp, determined to actually spend some part of the night asleep. The fun and glee of watching Rainbow Dash and Big Macintosh being in love was somewhat offset by knowing that Snails had his heart broken in front of him.

Dinky bit her lip as she walked past the campfire. When she thought Pip didn't like her was the worst thing ever, so she knew what Snails was probably feeling. She poked her head inside the boy's tent. Pip was still curled up, fast asleep. Snails was nowhere to be seen. "Dinky?" Turning around, Dinky saw Sweetie Belle poking her own head in. "What are you doing?"

"Shh!" She whispered to her. "Pip's still sleeping!"

"Oh, sorry!" Sweetie winced. She lowered her voice. "But what are you doing?"

"I wanted to see if Snails had come back." Dinky answered. "Where's Silver Spoon and Archer?"

Sweetie Belle shrugged. "I'm not sure…I think they were bringing a pot of water or something to Rainbow Dash's tent."

"…Oh." Dinky shrugged. She looked back to Pip.

Sweetie couldn't help smiling. "You _really_ like him, don't you?" She giggled. Dinky blushed.

"Well, yeah." Her tail swished. "I mean, he's just so…so…" At that moment Pipsqueak let out a tiny yawn and rolled over in his sleep. Dinky let out a Fluttershy-like squee.

Giggling, Sweetie Belle nudged her. "Times like I almost wish I still had my 'Gabby Gums' column." She teased Dinky, seeing her face light up even in the pitch black.

"You wouldn't dare-!" Dinky couldn't help giggling as she shoved Sweetie playfully. Then a sudden booming noise interrupted them. Then they heard it again. And then again.

Dinky and Sweetie Belle exchanged a horrified look as they felt the ground reverberating underneath the hooves. It was a rhythmic pounding that seemed to beat in rhythm with their hearts. All of a sudden a panicked familiar sounding shout filled the air.

"That's Snails!" Sweetie Belle said as the gangly colt ran into view, eyes wide with panic and sweat dripping from his coat. His chest heaved as though his head was trying to outpace his legs. Behind came a…great furry bowling ball?

Well, given its large rolling gait, Sweetie can be forgiven for thinking that. But it wasn't when it drew itself up to its full height that she recognized it for what it was: an enormous, angry grizzly bear.

Sweetie shrieked in terror.

The bear roared; foam flecked spittle spraying from its maw. The foals didn't know it, but Snails had disturbed a mother bear while she was with her cub. And no matter how friendly to ponies some of the wildlife was, there was no bear mom in the history of the world that would ever tolerate a stranger getting close to her cub.

Sweetie Belle was frozen in place, screaming. She felt Dinky tugging on her hoof but was unable to move until a panicked Snails plowed into her and Dinky, the three of them rolling away in ball. Pip poked his head out of this tent, blinking away sleep.

"Whut's going on?" He said around a yawn, just before a massive bear paw crashed through his tent. "Whoa!" The tiny pinto's eyes widened as the bear loomed over him, claws outstretched and fangs bared.

"PIP!" Dinky screamed.

Suddenly, a bolt of blue crashed into the bear's chest, knocking it on its back. The bear bellowed angrily and swatted at the pegasus hovering over her. "R-rainbow Dash?" Pipsqueak's jaw dropped, still not sure what was going on. He mentally resolved to stop eating so many marshmallows before bed.

"Move your rump!" Rainbow yelled at him as a claw came within an inch of tearing her leg off. "NOW!"

Nodding numbly, Pip gulped and ran to where the other little ponies were; hiding behind a nearby tree. No sooner had Pip joined Sweetie Belle, Dinky, Snails, Archer and Silver Spoon when Big Macintosh came charging out of the woods. "Into the forest, go!" He barked at them as he ducked his head and plowed right on into the bear's stomach just as it had gotten back up.

"Nice slam!" Rainbow Dash called, the bear grunting and snarling as it fought to get back to its paws.

"That goes for you too Dash!" Macintosh spared her a quick look. "Take the foals and run!"

"What? Run and you leave here to fight a giant bear on your own? No way!"

"Ah can take care of mahself. They can't!" He grunted as he reared up on his hind legs and smacked them down into the bear's gut.

Rainbow did a tight Immelman's turn and bucked the angry bear with her hind legs. "Yeah right! You go! I can handle this." She ducked down, avoiding an angry swipe that nearly took her tail off. "After manticores, dragons and Discord this bear is only rating a three out of ten on the menacing chart: A weak three!" A daredevil grin crossed her muzzle as she impishly stuck out her tongue at the raging bear and easily darting aside an angry claw swiped through the spot Dash had just occupied. "This bear won't be a problem for me!" She sounded cocky as she introduced her hoof to the bear's chest but her words rang somewhat hollow when the angry beast just seemed to shrug them off.

"Don't be a foal!" Macintosh snorted as he reared again, forcing the bear to step back for fear of being hit by his massive hooves. "You cain't handle this alone!"

"Oh and you can?" Rainbow shouted. "I'm not leaving you!"

"Well I ain't about to leave you!" Mac shouted back.

The bear, not wanting to be left out, shouted angrily as well.

In the darkened woods of Whitetail, the foals ran through the trees in a panicked abandon. Their clopping hooves and panting breaths were deadened by the sounding of their own thudding hearts. They ran without looking back, afraid to see or hear the bear coming after them—or worse, to confirm their worst fears about what was happening to Big Macintosh and Rainbow Dash.

Your average foal's worst fears usually revolved around the dark. Bogeyponies, monsters under the bed, ghosts and other things that went bump in the night. But as a clever pony once said "You'll see that they can't hurt you, just laugh to make them disappear!"

But now that a real, actual, roaring, clawing giant beast in the dark had arrived more frightful in its realness than all the make-believe fantasies in the minds of foals, all sense had deserted them. Six little ponies ran without thought, without plan and without a clue of where they were going.

Too afraid to look back, they didn't even notice when their paths started to separate and the children began to get separated from one another. The space between them seemed to widen with every step. It wasn't long until the others started to pass completely out of sight.

Pipsqueak was the first to notice by virtue of his short legs making it harder for him to keep up. "Wait!" He called. "Don't leave! Snails! Sweetie Belle? DINKY!"

It was Pip's scared yell that cut through Dinky's own terror. She stopped short, her tiny hooves furrowing in the dirt as she skidded to a sudden stop. "Pip?" She turned around and saw her friend huffing and puffing as he kept putting one tired, shaky hoof in front of the other. "Pip!" She shouted, running back.

"D-dinky?" Pipsqueak panted. She reached him and immediately hugged him and started crying.

"I'm sorry!" She cried suddenly, crushing him against her. "I was so scared, I didn't mean to leave you behind!"

"It's okay—"

"No it isn't!" Dinky sniffed. "There's a giant bear that's fighting Rainbow Dash and Big Macintosh and now we're lost and alone in the woods and its dark and I'm never gonna see my mom again!"

Pip hugged her tightly as she sobbed. "It'll be okay…we'll get out safe, I promise!"

"R-really?" Dinky hiccupped.

Pipsqueak smiled. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" He said solemnly, reminding her of Rainbow Dash's scary story. That won a giggle from the scared filly as she hugged Pip.

"Thanks Pip…"

Elsewhere, Big Mac led out a whinny of pain as he felt something sharp rake against his sides, scouring long scratches that immediately started welling with blood—practically unnoticeable in the dark and against his already red hide.

But the sound of Macintosh in pain was enough to make Rainbow Dash see red. She charged headfirst at the rampaging bear, only to be knocked with a backpawed slap that sent her reeling into her own tent.

Rainbow, wrapped up in the fallen folds of her own tent, squirmed and struggled to kick herself free. That's when she noticed that somepony had left a pot full of water in her tent, which had remained undisturbed when she crashed through it. Choosing not to look a gift horse in the mouth, she grabbed it with both hooves and flew back over to the fight. "HEY!" The bear looked up at the source of the shout to see a wickedly smiling Rainbow Dash. She upended the pot of water over the bear's head and then immediately slammed the pot down and bucked it with her hooves, resulting in a loud clanging noise that rattled the bear's ears.

As the bear struggled to remove the warped metal pot of it head, Big Macintosh lowered his head, pawed at the ground and snorted, then charged throwing his shoulder into the bear's gut. All the while, Rainbow Dash flew around and around and peppered the bear's body with quick punches and jabs, speeding off before the bear could swat at her. Strength and Speed together: it was an amazing combination.

But not an invincible one, as Rainbow Dash found out to her cost. Once the bear managed to remove the mangled pot on its head, it was mad. Throwing its massive arms widely apart, she swung and struck Rainbow more through luck than skill (as Rainbow Dash would have put it). Rainbow let out a loud yelp as a massive furry paw struck her and she skidded, hitting the ground and skipping like a flat rock across the surface of a pond. She finally came to a stop when she crashed against the side of a tree.

Her pained cry had the same effect on Big Macintosh that the sound of the disturbed cub had on its mother. Big Macintosh bellowed angrily and put all of his strength into his hooves as he spun on his forelegs and bucked the bear hard, with all his strength.

An angry roar of defiance by the bear turned into a pained wheeze as the air was forcefully expelled from its lungs. Finally convinced that fighting these ponies was more trouble than it was worth, she turned and started limping back to her cave.

Without a moment's hesitation, Big Mac ran back to where Rainbow Dash lay groaning; practically wrapped around the trunk of a large oak tree. "Rainbow! You all right?"

The cyan pegasus forced open one eye as she gave a grin that was more of a grimace. "W-who me? Never better." She coughed. "Fluttershy hits harder…" Rainbow suddenly found herself enveloped in a tight embrace as Big Macintosh rubbed his head against hers.

"You stubborn, thick-skulled, mule-brained…! Next time I tell you to git, you better git your rainbow tail in gear and go, got that?" He looked at her, his eyes warring between anger and fear, his voice thick with emotion.

Rainbow shook her head. "Not…happening. I don't leave ponies hanging. You know that." She coughed, hissing a bit. Coughing hurt. "Can't do anything else."

Mac's shoulders heaved. "You better not be leaving me Rainbow…not when I just got you, you hear?"

"Geeze, have you been reading one of Rarity's…hnrg…romances?" Rainbow Dash quirked an eyebrow, only to find that her aches and pains somehow now included her eyebrow. How was that even possible? "I'm not dying you dumb lunkhead. I've crashed into mountains and walked away. I'm fine!"

"…I knew that." Mac said weakly.

"Of course you did." Dash nodded patronizingly.

"…You ain't ever gonna ever let me live that down, are you?"

Dash gave a small cherubic like grin that would've made just about any pony want to smack her. "Eenope."

Anypony but Big Macintosh. "All right." He ran his hoof through her forelock. "You really okay?"

"Duh! Like I said about a half-dozen times," She gently nudged Big Mac away and started to sit up. "I'm f-ungh!" She grimaced, clutching her side. Macintosh gently pried her hooves away and took a look. Even in the dark, he could see its discoloration.

"Looks like you gone bruised your ribs." He concluded, gently testing her side for any signs of breakage. Rainbow Dash hissed and squirmed, but Mac was resolute. "Don't look like you got anything broken."

"Great." She grunted. "Now let's go get the kids before anything else happens." Rainbow Dash moved to spread her wings out when Mac suddenly put his hooves over his wings, keeping them close to her body.

"Whoah there, nelly. You can't go around flying with bruised ribs. Flapping those wings would just make it worse. You could end up breaking something, have a rib puncture a lung." Macintosh felt his face pale just thinking about it. "You're land-bound until we get back to Ponyville."

Rainbow grumbled. "Ugh, fine. Whatever. Let's just…" her eyes widened. "Wait a minute, what about YOUR injuries?" She frantically started feeling along Big Macintosh's side until she felt her hooves dip in something wet. Mac winced. His coat on one side was matted and itchy with drying blood. "That tears it, first thing we're gonna do is clean you up…"

"That kin wait until we find the foals." Big Macintosh said stubbornly. "It ain't that bad."

Rainbow narrowed her eyes and none too gently jabbed him in the side. Macintosh's face contorted as he raised a leg, trying to protect his wounded side. What was with fillies and doing that?

"Not that bad huh." Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs. "You're not going anywhere until we bandage you up."

"Well, *ah* ain't going nowhere until we bandage *you* up." Big Macintosh retorted with a snort.

Rainbow Dash sat up and glowered at him, their foreheads pressing against one another in a competition of wills and strength. "Fine! Then I guess we'll just BOTH have to bandage each other up!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

A pause.

"…Soooo, does this count as our first 'couples' fight or what?" Rainbow Dash asked sheepishly as they broke apart.

"Eeyup." Big Mac said laconically, his face twitching. Soon they both couldn't help collapsing into laughter which didn't last that long as their aching sides reminded them of their pain. "C'mon," he offered a hoof to help Rainbow Dash to her hooves. "Let's try to make some bandages out of what's left of our tents."

"Right. Then we'll look for the foals together." She nodded. "After all, you and I taught them everything they know. They can take care of themselves for a little while, right?"

"Of course." Big Macintosh nodded. Rainbow nodded back. Then they both set about tearing strips of bandages out of the tents with a sudden hurried effort.


	12. Chapter 12

In another part of the woods, another pair of fillies found comfort in one another.

Sweetie Belle hadn't been this scared since the cockatrice incident. She closed her eyes and ran and ran…not the best of plans as she soon found herself colliding into something. Hard.

"Ow! Sweetie Belle!" It was Archer. She got up and dusted herself off.

"Archer?" Sweetie hopped to her hooves in delight. "Oh thank goodness! I was so scared! What do we do?"

"Um…" Archer looked around. All she saw was the woods at night, each direction looking more or less indistinguishable from the other. "I—don't know."

Sweetie looked around nervously. "W-well, where are the others?"

"…I don't know. I guess we should look for them." Archer looked around. "I wish we still had those whistles Rainbow Dash gave us. Can you light your horn up?"

The white unicorn flinched. "Um, actually I can't do any magic with my horn yet." She moped, looking down at the ground. "I guess I'm too young."

"But Snails can…" Archer clamped her muzzle shut a moment too late. Sweetie's eyes welled with tears.

"You're right!" She started to cry, all the tenseness of the situation finally getting to her. "I'm a blank flank, I'm lost AND I can't do magic!"

"Aww, c'mon Sweets, I didn't mean anything!" Archer rubbed her back. "I mean, it's not like your friend Scootaloo can fly or Apple Bloom can applebuck yet, right?"

"N-no…"

"Then stop worrying about it." Archer mussed up her hair. "You're way too concerned about all the stuff you can't do. How about you and I focus on what we can do, and find the others, okay?"

"M'okay…" Sweetie Belle sniffled. "Thanks."

"Heh, no problem. C'mon." The blue filly started to trot up ahead. "Let's go find everypony else and get out of here already!"

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS WILDERNESS EXPLORERS AND PONY RESCUERS!" Sweetie Belle shouted. Archer just blinked. Lowering her ears, Sweetie mumbled an apology. "…it works better when Scootaloo and Apple Bloom are around." She elaborated.

"Um, I guess?" Archer hazarded. As the two of them walked for a while, the silence started weighing down on them. Eager to fill the void, Archer voiced a thought that Sweetie's exuberant shout had raised. "So…Sweetie Belle?"

"Yeah Archer?"

"Um, I was just wondering…about the Cutie Mark Crusaders?"

"What about us?"

Archer thought about the best way to put it. "You're all trying to get your cutie marks, together right?"

"Right!" Sweetie smiled, the happy thought seeming to pull her out of where she actually was at the moment.

"So do you really think the three of you are going to end up with the same cutie mark? At the same time?"

"W-well…" Sweetie's smile seemed to wane, the brightness in her eyes wavering. "I guess not…but…"

"But what?"

"What if I can't get my cutie mark on my own?" Sweetie looked at her, afraid. "Maybe I'm just not special enough to get my own! So if that means sharing a talent with my friends or never getting a cutie mark…"

"That's not how it works!" Archer yelled suddenly.

"Easy for you to say!" Sweetie Belle shouted back. "You already have your cutie mark! Everypony knows that you're special!"

"So what? I don't care!" Archer demanded and was rewarded to see Sweetie's mouth hanging open.

"W-wha…?" Her eyes grew to half the size of her head.

"You heard me! So I have my cutie mark, big deal!" She snapped. "Guess what? I was Archer before I got my cutie mark and I'm still Archer now! I didn't learn magic, didn't become smarter or faster or stronger…in fact all my cutie mark did was give ponies ONE thing to remember me by! ' Oh look! It's that pony who's good at archery!' " She rubbed her forehead.

"Grr…before I thought it was just Silver Spoon who had this weird hang up but I guess you do too! A cutie mark is just a cutie mark! It's a reminder of who you *already* are!"

Archer took a hitching, shuddering breath. "Y-you think a cutie mark is the answer to everything! Well it's not! Even without a cutie mark you've done so many cool and amazing things! All I'm known for is archery and maybe for playing some arcade games." She started rubbing at her eyes. "Everypony knows who you and your friends are…you're the fillies that can do anything. No pony knows me…except as that blue filly that can do ONE thing." She sniffed, turning away to rub her muzzle with the back of her hoof.

Suddenly she felt something pressing against her back that was full of warmth and compassion. "I'm sorry." Sweetie Belle said as she hugged her from behind.

"…T'anks." Archer hiccupped. "Sorry. I just…I don't know. I got my cutie mark, everypony was happy for me, and then…nothing. I looked forward to getting my cutie mark as much as anypony but I never thought about what would happen after that…and it's like nopony else cares either."

"I do." Sweetie buried her snout in the back of Archer's shoulder. "And I don't think you're just good at archery! You're really strong and funny and nice…you got Silver Spoon to stop acting so mean to everypony and you're friendly…everypony on this trip likes you! And when we get back to Ponyville, I'll tell everypony I know just how cool and smart and fun you are!"

Archer cracked a small grin. "Thanks Sweetie…" She turned around and gave the unicorn a hug in return. "Maybe your cutie mark should be for being a good friend." The two of them laughed. "So, I guess we should get going again." The blue filly rose to her hooves. "Just take it easy with thinking that your cutie mark is gonna be the most important thing about you. It isn't. You are."

"Thanks…"

As Sweetie Belle's spirits were starting to rise, Silver Spoon's were sinking lower and lower. By the time she had run out of steam and had to stop, panting for breath, she realized just how alone she was. No Diamond Tiara, no Cheerilee, no counselors, no campers, nopony.

Silver Spoon was spooked by sudden noise. She leapt around until she realized it was the sound of her own knees knocking. "A-anypony there?" She called nervously. "Archer? Pipsqueak?" A faint orange glow appeared in the bushes.

"W-who's there?" Her voice broke as the orange light spread, the sound of bushes rustling, revealing… "SNAILS?" Her voice broke in surprise.

"Where?" Snails looked around, turning in a circle. "Oh no, that's just my cutie mark." He said with a weak smile.

Silver Spoon facehooved. "Great, not only am I lost in the woods at night, I'm lost in the woods at night with the most *annoying* colt in the world!"

Snails shrunk down. "Um, sorry?"

"What did I ever do to deserve this?" She moaned softly to herself. Then she winced. "Oh yeah…"

As if to rub it in, a spatter of water landed on her head and dripped down her neck. It was so cold and so sudden that she let out a little shriek of surprise and gave a sudden start. "EEEEP!" She shook herself dry only to feel the pitter patter of more rain drops starting to fall through the gaps in the trees and roll down the leaves. "Oh no…" She moaned. It wasn't a particularly heavy rain, more like a light drizzle, but it was cold!

Suddenly, the rain stopped. Silver Spoon looked up to see a large leaf hovering over her like an umbrella. Clutching the end of the left in his mouth was Snails' giving her a sheepish look.

"Um, fer ou?" He said around a mouthful of leaf, his own mane starting to grow heavy with rainwater.

Despite herself, Silver Spoon felt herself give a little smile at Snails' chivalrous gesture. "Thank you…"

Snails beamed with pride. The two foals kept walking a ways when a hoof at the end of one of Snails' long lanky legs caught on a rock and he fell forward. "Wooah!" He managed to call out right before he fell forwards onto Silver Spoon. She let out a sharp squeal before she was pressed face first into the soggy dirt.

"Pwuh! Eeew! SNAILS!"

"'owwy!" came the muffled response, his face pressed against her flank.

Silver Spoon flushed. "Get off!" She said, shaking her hips as she tried to get out from under him. Snails stood up. Silver Spoon scrambled to her hooves a second later, furiously wiping the soggy dirt and mud from her face and from her mane. "Ugh! Watch where you're going!"

Snails lowered his head. Silver Spoon sniffed and started off again, Snails walking a few paces behind her. Dead silence reigned for the next few minutes until Snails couldn't help but make an observation. "It wasn't made of sugar lumps."

With a baffled look, Silver Spoon stopped and turned around to regard her traveling companion. He, in turn, was regarding her rump. "…" It took Silver Spoon a moment then she blushed crimson. "Snails!" she cried out once again, making a habit out of it.

"Well you and Diamond Tiara…" He started, then quailed as the angry-looking, red-faced silver filly *glowered* at him, her eyes seemingly magnified by her glasses. "Never mind."

"Hmph!" Silver Spoon hiked herself up and started marching away with a stiff, proud demeanor, her face still streaked with red.

There was a tense silence as the two of them walked now that hung in the air, growing heavier all the time. Silver schooled her face into her best scowl and trudged forward doing her best to put as much distance—both physical and mental—from her companion. But between Snails' longer gait and the fact that she had nothing else to think about, she failed on both counts.

Then the silence or the tension (or both) finally grew too much for Snails and he suddenly blurted out "I'm sorry!" 

Silver Spoon stopped and looked around. "You should be!"

"I didn't mean to make you mad." Snails sounded apologetic, his ears lowered. "I—I…" he stammered, falling silent.

"You what?" The annoyed filly demanded.

"I always mess things up." He finished morosely.

"For once you're right." Silver Spoon turned around and walked back towards him. "You—" She stopped short, her voice trailing off as she saw the tears welling up in the corners of his eyes, looking all the more pathetic for being waterlogged and tired and dirty and…she hated the way he looked at her. It was like a cowering puppy expecting a kick. She didn't want to see that look anymore. It made her feel like an ogre.

She took a deep breath and counted to ten, thinking about what Archer would want her to say if she were here. "It's…okay, Snails."

"R-really?"

"Yes. Really." Silver Spoon was surprised to find that she actually meant it. "A-and…I'm sorry about, well, all that stuff I said and…about that stuff back at camp, with Rainbow Dash."

At the mention of the object of his crush, Snails crouched down until Silver Spoon was actually above him. "I'm too goofy and clumsy for somepony as cool and fast and awesome as Rainbow Dash to like." Snails moaned.

"Oh stop it." The silver filly sounded cross. "Look, I'm sorry she doesn't like you the way you do but, seriously, she's like twice our age! What did you think would happen?"

"I 'unno." Snails mumbled. "She's just so…awesome!"

"Ugh, what's the big deal with being 'awesome' ?" Silver Spoon rolled her eyes.

"Um, don't you and Diamond Tiara care about being popular and pretty and stuff?" Snails asked, not understanding the difference.

Silver blinked. "Yeah, but that's totally not the-" She trailed off. Turned out Snails wasn't the only one. "Horseapples." She facehooved before starting again. "Being really fast or awesome or popular doesn't make you a good pony." Silver scuffed her hooves.

"But you were never fast or awesome—oh wait, you were talking about Rainbow Dash!" Snails started to point out before catching on. Silver Spoon felt a small vein above her eye twitch.

"Yes. I was." She bit off each word. "ANYway…it's okay to be all that stuff, but that isn't what makes you a good pony or not."

"Oh. Then what does?" He asked in genuine curiosity.

Silver Spoon tapped her muzzle with her hoof. What would Archer say if she were here? This stuff was all new to her…well, Archer wasn't there nor anypony else Silver Spoon had come to rely on. She would have to figure this out herself. 

"Being a good pony…comes from doing good things, like helping other ponies, being nice and stuff. Rainbow Dash being super fast and cool and junk is all nice, but that doesn't make her a good pony. The fact that she's really brave and loyal does." Silver Spoon made a face, as if only begrudgingly admitting Rainbow Dash's strengths. Silver Spoon really didn't mesh well with Rainbow Dash. Maybe it was how blunt Rainbow was, or how unrefined she was. She didn't hate her or anything but she wasn't about to join the Rainbow Dash Fan Club either. Still, that ride had been pretty neat. 

Snails looked troubled. "So I shouldn't like ponies even if they're awesome and stuff?"

Finally, some progress. "Well…you can like whoever you want but being awesome doesn't necessarily mean you'll be a good pony. I wasn't, anyway." She muttered.

"But you *are* a good pony." Snails sounded confused again. "And you're really nice and awesome!"

"R-really?" Silver felt her cheeks grow warm. "Thank you…you are too."

Snails also blushed and gave a goofy grin…then he cocked his head, thinking of something. "Wait…so if you're an awesome pony you might not be a good pony—" He waited for Silver Spoon to nod. "-but if you're a good pony then you *are* awesome?"

Silver Spoon opened her mouth then closed it. Darn this was confusing. Why was it so much harder to be nice and helpful than it was to be petty? That wasn't fair at all.

"Um, well…I…the point is that Rainbow Dash doesn't like you the way that you like her." She hurried on. "I mean, I'm sure she likes you, but not *likes* like you, get it?"

"…"

"…Yeah, even I know that sounded confusing." Silver Spoons sighed. "It's just that Rainbow Dash has feelings for Big Macintosh. It doesn't mean that she doesn't like you or that there's something wrong with you."

"Yes there is." Snails sniffed. "I always make ponies I like mad at me." Snails blinked and rubbed at one eye with his hoof.

"…The Great and Powerful Trixie…Rainbow Dash…" He looked up at her. "You…"

"You…like me?"

"…I think you're really pretty." Snails mumbled, looking away and missing the enormous blush that erupted across her face. "But the ponies I like, don't like me."

"Well, I—" Whatever Silver Spoon was about to say was suddenly transformed into a startled squeak as a bright flash lit up the dark forest. After a quick look at each other, the two foals darted towards the unexpected but welcome relief from the dark and gloomy forest. Perhaps it could even be a rescue party!

"Here we are! You found us!" Silver Spoon exclaimed as she pushed her way through some sopping wet bushes, not caring about messing up her mane or coat. "You have no idea how happy we are to see…you?"

"Hmph, I'm not surprised." A lone mare sat underneath a canopy draped across some tree branches, protecting her and her tent from the rain. "After all," She tossed her white mane across her shoulders, raising her hooves dramatically. "Who isn't happy to see the Great and Powerful Trixie?"  
>&amp;&amp;&amp;<p> 


	13. Chapter 13

"So what do we do now captain?" Dinky asked, saluting Pipsqueak. The two little ponies had decided to try and make a game and were now playing at being pirates in search of treasure. It made being lost, alone in the woods at night seem almost bearable. Almost.

"Well First Mate Dinky, we have to consult our treasure map!" Pipsqueak said proudly, strutting forth in front of Dinky with a captain's pomp and swagger despite being about a head shorter than her. It was adorable.

"But we don't HAVE a map." Dinky felt obliged to point out.

"Never fear! I still have my compass!" Pip said gesturing to the compass he wore around his neck. "Now we can find which way's north!"

"But what good does that do?" Dinky asked. "If we're lost, we don't know which direction the place we're trying to get is in the first place."

"…" Pip's face fell. "Oh."

"Plan B cap'n?"

"I don't know…" Looking depressed, he cast his gaze around in all directions. "Everyplace looks the same. And when you're lost I think you're actually supposed to stay in one place to make it easier for the search ponies to find you."

"Stay here?" Dinky looked around miserably. "But it's the middle of nowhere! It's dark and cold and wet!"

"It'll be okay Dinky." Pip reached up to give her an awkward hoof pat on the back. "We can tell stories and sing pirate songs until Rainbow Dash and Big Macinotsh or somepony finds us."

"Well, that sounds nice." With some effort, she managed a weak, shaky grin. Pip smiled encouragingly.

"Great! How about 'Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum?'"

"Uh, what's rum?" Dinky asked.

"I don't know…my da's friends back in Trottingham liked to drink it a lot. I think it's like juice or something."

"Sounds good! Let's go!"

They started singing silly pirate songs and sea shanties. Dinky stopped after constantly tripping over the lyrics and instead settled for listening to Pip cheerfully bellowing out line after line in that adorable accent of his. "—and when you're a professional piraaaate—you're always in the best of compaaaaaanny!" He finished bawdily, bowing as he finished.

Dinky giggled and clopped her hooves together. "Hehee, hooray!"

He blushed, idly rubbing his mane with his hoof. "Thanks! Now you go!"

"Oh! All right…" Dinky cleared her throat and started to sing. "Do you know the muffin mare, the muffin mare, the muffin mare…"

Soon they came to stories. Pipsqueak told her about his old home in Trottingham and the adventures he used to get in at the docks, where he first acquired his love for pirates, the sea, and all things adventure-related. Dinky listened enrapt. He told her about the stories about what the colts at school got into (fillies and colts tended to keep to themselves at that age, as Miss Cheerilee had observed to Rainbow Dash earlier). Pipsqueak told her about how Rumble had helped create a tornado with all the other pegasi in town (she made a note to not mention this to Scootaloo) and how Truffles had been so happy to get a Hearts and Hooves Day card from Twist (this made Dinky d'aww).

Dinky didn't really know these colts. Rumble, Truffles, Featherweight, Lickety Split, Snips and Snails…she'd notice them in class or out of the corner of her eye when she went walking through town but she'd never really taken the time to truly get to know them. She found out so much about them through Pip's stories…about Rumble's cute and lightly accented voice that belied a truly great flyer; Truffles' rosy cheeks and great appetite that hid a deeper sophistication and depths; why Featherweight's legs were so thin and dainty; how Lickety Split came from an old family; or how Snips and Snails got into as many madcap adventures as the Cutie Mark Crusaders, even if they weren't as widely known.

Closing her eyes, Dinky could see their stories in her mind as Pip went on. Absently, she lay down and snuggled up close to Pip's side as she listened. It was like listening to her mom telling her stories at night, but different. She could hear his heartbeat as her head rested against his warm side, gently heaving with his every breath. It was so soothing…Dinky soon found herself drifting off to sleep, feeling as safe as she had ever felt outside of her mother's embrace.

Big Macintosh grunted. "Bein' a mite rough there Rainbow."

"Suddup." Rainbow Dash grumbled, her mouth full. "Wussh."

There was an obligatory eye roll and a sigh from the big farm pony as Rainbow Dash tugged the bandage—torn from strips of one the ruined tents—taut around his barrel. A matching bandage was already wound across Rainbow's ribs in a similar manner.

Rainbow Dash spat the tent strip out of her mouth. "Bleh. There, finished."

Big Mac looked at his mummified middle and idly shifted where he stood. The bandages were firm, but not too tight to restrict his breathing or movement. He couldn't see any blood seeping through either, so that was a good sign. The bear's gash still hurt, though that was to be expected. "What do you think Rainbow?"

"Looking good." Big Macintosh had expected her to praise her own hoofwork…what he hadn't expected was to find her staring at his flank. Clearing his throat rather loudly startled the pegasus mare into blushing, aware that she'd been caught ogling his rump. Rather than twit her about it, he merely asked about the bandages he'd put on her. "They're good." Rainbow Dash said quickly, trying not to think about what it was like having Big Macintosh put his hooves all over her chest and belly as he wound the bandages around her. For a giant he had surprisingly gentle hooves…she shivered as she fought to keep her wings down.

"Okay!" She suddenly shook her head. "Time to find the foals! Now they ran in a hurry, so you can bet they left a trail we can follow. Think your mad Colt Scout skills can lead us to them?"

"Ah reckon so." He gave her an approving nod. "That's mighty clever Dash."

"Are you kidding?" She beamed, buffing her hoof on her chest. "If I was being any more clever you could stick a horn on me and call me Twilight Sparkle." Rainbow Dash grinned back.

"Modest too." Big Mac said evenly.

"You bet! There's no pony more modest than me, anywhere!" Rainbow said without a trace of irony. Then she blinked and realized what she had just said. "…aheh, or not."

Macintosh chuckled. "You shore said it." He leaned over and gently planted a kiss atop her head. Rainbow Dash bit down a giddy squeal as her wings buzzed like Scootaloo's. She leaned her flank against his, sharing their warmth as she rested her head under his chin and nuzzled his neck.

They could've stayed that way forever, but they had foals to find. Both of them were too loyal to forget their mission.

Big Macintosh started poking around the bushes surrounding the campsite trying to find a trace of the wayward ponies. Sure enough, the stampeding herd of little ponies had left a trail of trampled and broken branches and grass to indicate which way they had headed. "They went this way Dash. Due west."

"So let's saddle up and corral those critters!" Rainbow Dash said in her best 'cowpony' accent. "Yeeehaw!"

Big Mac winced, his ear twitching as they started following the trail, side by side. "That was terrible, Dash."

Rainbow got huffy. "Hey, I sounded like I was one of your relatives in Aaaaaappleloosa!" She reared and whinnied, giving little doubt as to which relative she was imitating. They both winced, Rainbow Dash for aggravating her ribs and Big Macintosh for aggravating his ears and family honor.

"That is NOT how we sound like." Macintosh replied after quickly checking to make sure Rainbow Dash made her injuries worse, managing to sound a little put out at the horrible impression.

"Sure it was!" She protested.

"Eenope."

"Uh, yeah! I mean, eeyup!"

"Eenope!" Big Macintosh said, starting to let his voice grow firmer in defense of his family's beloved manner of speech—which was NOT an accent, thank you very much!

"Eeyup!" Rainbow Dash retorted defiantly, her eyes blazing and nostrils flaring—the way she did when she was digging in her hooves and getting stubborn.

"Eenope!"

"Ugh, then YOU try it if you're so good at impressions!" Rainbow Dash finally exclaimed.

Big Macintosh cleared his throat. "Awww yeaAAah!" He came out with a higher, more feminine if sandy and somewhat squeaky voice with a hint of a rasp. Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped. Big Mac kept going, allowing his voice to occasionally crack. "Ah'm the best there IS! Twenty percent cOOler in ten seconds flAt!"

"S-shut up! I do NOT sound like that!" She stomped her hoof angrily. Big Macintosh said nothing; he didn't need to. The triumphant shaking of his mane said it all. Rainbow Dash's cheeks flushed red as she refused to even look in his direction.

Sensing that he'd taken things too far, he started to rest his head atop hers, only to have her step aside. Distressed at her abrupt rejection he lowered his head. "Ah'm sorry Rainbow, really, I am. Ah didn't know it bothered you."

"…it's no big thing." Rainbow wing shrugged, in a flat tone that fooled no pony. Her voice, always somewhat rough and sandy, sounded lower and raspier than usual. "It's just, you know. You think that your voice breaking is just something that comes and goes with puberty. With me—well, it's just a little annoying when you're in the middle of a sentence a squeak or crack pops up that makes you sound like a filly."

Big Mac gave her a comforting nuzzle which he was happy to see that she accepted. "Ah think you sound amazing."

"Re-ally?" She squeaked flushing as her voice cracked right in the middle. Big Macintosh nodded, a small smile crossing his face.

"Apple Family Honor." He said solemnly.

Rainbow Dash couldn't stop grinning, her eyes fluttered as she felt his muzzle rubbing her cheek. She shivered, hoping that by the time they got back they could save the mushy-gushy stuff for when they were alone. After all, she had a reputation to think of. But she couldn't deny just how *right* this felt. For the first time since—she couldn't even remember when!—she felt so perfectly happy and whole around another pony.

It was so strange. She felt like she wanted to be held and coddled and kept safe—despite the fact that she prided herself on her independence and her own abilities. But she also wanted Big Mac to hold her and to never let her go.

Dash eagerly leaned into his muzzle as if wanting to be enveloped by Big Mac. She stumbled as she tried to put her thoughts into words "Hey, Mac? I—" Her tongue suddenly felt itself being glued to the roof of her mouth.

Big Macintosh only nodded and gave a small smile. "Yeah." He murmured in his usual reserved manner. "Me too." The giant of an earth pony felt like his hooves were made of clouds and that any moment he would simply start to float away with all the happy thoughts building up in him. He had a marefriend! It was only through sheer force of will that he was prevented from letting out a Rarity-like squeal and bouncing on his hooves like a little colt. With Rainbow Dash everything seemed so…perfect. There was no other word for it.

Oh sure, other mares had noticed the big strapping stallion. He heard the hushed whispers and the sighs and occasional giggles that accompanied his walks through Ponyville—which was part of the reason why he made so few compared to the rest of his family. There was always somepony who was interested in Macintosh…but they weren't interested in his family and their tight-knit manner. Macintosh and his family were a package deal: in for an apple, in for a bushel. And as good-looking as the mares (and a few stallions) might have found Big Macintosh, the prospect of dealing with his headstrong, stubborn, opinionated sisters and granny as well as the rest of the extended Apple family was more than a little off-putting, to say nothing of being wrapped up in the affairs of Sweet Apple Acres. And Big Mac would never abandon his family, so that seemed to be that.

But in Rainbow Dash he saw a mare who could handle her own without being intimidated by Mac's sister and granny, who was great with little ponies and was Applejack's equal, who could throw herself into any challenge with sheer grit and determination enough to match even Apple family stubbornness: the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object.

It just seemed so *perfect*

Big Macintosh was a realist; he didn't expect Rainbow Dash to put her dreams and ambitions aside just to buck apples for the rest of her life—far from it. But he knew that with her he would never be forced to choose between her or his family. Rainbow Dash understood the bonds that kept the Apples together and she herself was already closely tied to them. Beyond all that…she was lovely. From her rose-colored eyes to her one of a kind mane this trim, slip of a filly radiated life and energy in a way that neatly contrasted—and complimented—Big Macintosh's own slow, reserved manner. What's more he was enthralled by her bravery, her courage, her loyalty and the way she tried to make herself sound so 'cool' after she realized she'd done something sweet or goofy was, frankly, adorable. The way her cheeks would light up and her face would blush a color that matched his own coat was enough to make his big heart skip a few beats.

His attention was suddenly drawn back to the task at hoof when the trail suddenly changed. "Uh-oh." Macintosh said suddenly. "Got ourselves a problem Dash."

"What's up?"

"Looks like they split up." He pointed at the diverging tracts in the ground.

"Horseapples. What next?" That's when it started to rain. Irritably, she blew her mane out of her face as Big Macintosh's wheat sprig drooped. Rainbow Dash facehooved.


	14. Chapter 14

The woods were still dark, sunrise still an hour or so away as the cold rain continued to fall. This left the progress of anypony wandering through the forest to be somewhat slow. So Archer and Sweetie Belle had decided upon a game to help pass the time as they traveled.

Archer looked around. "I spy with my little eye something beginning with the letter….t."

"Trees." Sweetie sighed from behind her waterlogged mane, not even having to take a second to think about it. While easily distracted and somewhat of a scatterbrain at times, the rather uniform appearance of their surroundings rendered the game a tad predictable.

"Okay…" Archer looked someplace else. "I spy with my little eye something beginning with the letter m."

"More trees." Came Sweetie Belle's immediate and weary reply. Even her typically sweet nature seemed to be reaching its breaking point.

"Good going!" Archer smiled. "Maybe you'll get your cutie mark for 'eye spy!'

Sweetie groaned. "And that's when I bucked her straight to the moon, your honor…" She mumbled, practicing her defense for the trial. No jury would ever convict her.

"Now…I spy with my little eye something beginning with the letter m!"

"I give up." Sweetie pronounced, having had her fill.

"Aww, c'mon! Guess!" Archer urged.

"This better not be…" Sweetie started, turning her head to look at Archer. Then she sighed when she saw the blue filly's smirk. It was.

"Even more trees!" The two fillies said together.

"Ugh!" Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes and thunked her head against one of those trees. "I can't take it anymore! I want to go home!"

Archer looked around. "I think we've been wandering around in circles."

"What, weren't you paying attention during Big Macintosh's tracking lessons?" Sweetie demanded.

"Weren't you?" Archer shot back. They looked at each other and groaned.

There was a sniffle. Sweetie Belle wiped a hoof across her face, wiping tears and rain from her face. "I miss my sister…" She slid down, not caring about sitting in the rain and the mud.

Archer walked over and sat down next to her, draping a leg over her shoulder. "Your sister's Rarity, right?"  
>"A huh."<p>

"I think she spoke to me once." When Sweetie looked up, Archer explained. "She called my hat tacky." She grinned at Sweetie Belle's giggle.

"Yeah, that's Rarity!" She hiccupped. "Just think what she would say if she could see us now!"

"She'd have a conniption!" Archer exclaimed, using a word she'd once heard her mother use. "Da-arling, what EVER did you do to your mane? So ghastly!" She swooned, leaning against her unicorn companion.

Sweetie giggled. "Don't you know that mud is sooo last season? Do keep up with the times deary!" She chortled.

"Iiideeeea!" Archer proclaimed as she picked up a fallen leaf and put it on top of Sweetie Belle's head. "How marvelous!"

The two fillies collapsed in fit of giggles, successfully forgetting the trouble they were in. "Thanks Archer!" Sweetie laughed. "You're really funny!"

"Better than being funny looking!" She replied, grinning, scooting a little bit closer to the tree so the leaves would shield her from the worst of the rain. She preferred cold bark to being rained on.

"Yeah, I guess…heeeeeey!" Sweetie Belle gave her the worst glower she could muster. Archer almost keeled over laughing. Sweetie trying to be threatening was one of the funniest things she'd ever seen. The Cake twins had scarier looking faces than that!

"I didn't mean it like that." Archer said, her lip trembling. "Honestly, I wasn't talking about you!"

"…really?"

"Pinkie Promise." The blue filly assured her. "Cross my heart and hope to fly—"

"I believe you! I believe you!" Sweetie Belle waved her hooves. "No need for that!"

"Still spooked by Rainbow Dash's ghost story huh?"

Sweetie Belle shivered. "I am NEVER going into the Cakes' basement…ever!" Archer shivered too, but for a different reason.

"Brrr! It's cold. I wish Princess Celestia would hurry up and raise the sun a bit early." She complained, hugging herself as the cold rain and the wind combined to set her teeth chattering.

Shaking whatever mud and water she could get from her coat, Sweetie Belle moved closer to Archer and nuzzled her. "Maybe a song will help? I heard this one in a book." She cleared her throat. Archer wasn't sure what to expect but what she heard left her spellbound.

"Look for me at dawning when the earth is asleep.

Till each dewdrop is kissed by the day,

'Neath the rowan and alder a vigil I'll keep,

Every moment that you are away…"

Archer felt water trickle down her face, even though the rain had stopped. Wiping it quickly away with her hoof she gave Sweetie a smile. She was about to compliment her on her awesome skills when the little unicorn suddenly looked away.

"Hey, what's that?" Sweetie Belle pointed at a sudden bright, white glow in the distance that cut through the trees.

"It's too early to be morning." Archer realized. "Maybe it's a rescue party come to look for us!"

"Let's go!" The two fillies cheered as they ran towards the light.

In another part of Whitetail Woods, three ponies were kept cozy and dry in a magic weather-proofed tent that kept the cold and moisture out. The atmosphere inside however, was stormy enough.

The Great and Powerful Trixie had been certainly surprise to see two lost little foals in the middle of the woods at night, in the rain. But when she recognized Snails as one of her two biggest fans from Ponyville—and the indirect cause of her unceremonious ejection from town—her surprise became anger.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie cannot believe this!" She pulled her hat down over her eyes as if trying to climb inside it. "Of all the misbegotten, foalish-gggrr!" Trixie couldn't even finish her thought and descended into stomping her hooves. As angry and bitter as she was, even she couldn't throw out a foal into the rainy night. That didn't mean she had to like it though.

Snails crouched down on the tent floor as if trying to sink through it. Silver Spoon, huddled up in a blanket, sat off to the side and watched. When she had explained that they had gotten lost after a bear had wrecked their campsite Trixie snorted and pointedly looked at Snails—who guiltily flinched—and said: "Hmm, why is Trixie not surprised?" She had begrudgingly tossed them each a blanket and an apple before sitting down to sulk and brood.

Silver Spoon fidgeted uncomfortably. "So what are you doing here?"

"The Great and Powerful Trixie is supposed to be meeting a…friend here."

"In the middle of the woods?" Silver Spoon blinked behind her large glasses. Trixie hmphed but couldn't help but admit that had been her initial reaction as well. "So, you're not living here?" That made Trixie regard the silver filly oddly. "It's just that after your carriage got crushed no pony knew what happened to you and some ponies thought that you didn't have a home and would have had to go live in the woods and…" She trailed off under Trixie's horrified and insulted look.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie is no vagabond! While my…ordeal and loss of my carriage was a setback, it was merely that: a setback." She crossed her hooves across her chest.

"That's good!" Snails piped up, giving her his biggest smile. Trixie countered with a look of cold fury that had him shrinking before her.

"No thanks to you! If it were not for you Trixie would not have been forced to flee from Ponyville in shame with her home and her possessions destroyed!"

"Hey! You leave him alone!" Silver Spoon shouted at her. "It's not his fault he believed you! You didn't have to make up a bunch of stuff about being better than anypony else in order to impress ponies!"

"Trixie IS better than anypony else!" The showmare raised herself, the top of her hat brushing the roof of the tent. Silver Spoon just squared herself and looked back up at the older pony with all the defiance, certainty and well-crafted arguments of a school filly.

"Are not!"

Thus challenged, Trixie marshaled her own carefully constructed rebuttal. "Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!" Trixie's horn flashed, lighting up the whole tent into a bright beacon of light. "Trixie is the greatest, most talented, show-stopping pony in all of Equestria!" She raised her forelegs in the air as if she were on stage. She shut her eyes. This is the part where the fireworks and spinners would light up and the audience would appreciatively oooh and ahh at Trixie and…and…she let her forelegs drop, her entire posture drooping. It was all gone now.

She sank to the floor, her eyes screwed shut and her teeth clenched. "This wasn't supposed to happen to Trixie." The not very great or powerful feeling Trixie murmured resignedly. "She was supposed to performing to packed audiences in Manehattan and Las Pegasus. She should be living in splendor, wanting for nothing! Not spending the night in a tiny tent to meet some stranger she never met before at the behest of a pony who loathes her."

Silver Spoon didn't catch much of that and so she didn't say anything. Snails hung his head as if there were something fascinating about his hooves. She looked to Snails and to the glowering Trixie and back again. Silver Spoon saw how Snails just seemed to shrink and collapse into himself under her glower. This pony was arrogant, obnoxious, and completely full of herself. She had managed to alienate everypony around her…Silver Spoon blinked, for a moment she saw her face and colors in place of Trixie's. She rubbed her glasses with her hoof and squinted at her.

"What are you staring at it?" Trixie demanded, whirling on the filly.

'_The shadows of the things that will be, or are they shadows of things that may be, only?_' The quote from Charles Docken's A Hearth's Warming Carol sprang into her head without warning. She shivered from nose to tail. "M-myself."

Trixie tossed her mane. "Hmph. You wish, filly."

"Not really." Silver Spoon bit her lip. "I used to be…I was really mean and rude to a lot of ponies in my class. I mean, this was just this week! I thought because I'm really classy and my family's rich that everypony should like me, so I didn't need to be nice and anypony who *didn't* like me was just jealous. But when I stopped being selfish and acting like a jerk, ponies started to really like me! For me! I started having lots of friends again, for the first time in a long while!" She met Trixie's eyes, soft purple meeting hard blue ones. "I thought that I was perfect the way I was but couldn't figure out why I only had one friend…but now I want to be different. I-I want to be somepony else…because I don't want to be like you."

Trixie wanted to be angry, but the gray filly wasn't angry or spiteful…she sounded sad. Unsettled, she whirled around letting her cape flow dramatically as she stalked off to her corner of the tent and sat down, brooding.

Snails looked up as Silver Spoon walked over. "T-thank you." He stammered. The silver filly gave a little smile.

"Well, I meant it." She sat down next to him. "I'm tired." Her eyes drooped. "I'm achy and I just wish somepony was here to take us home." Sleepily she started murmuring as she rested her head against his shoulder without really realizing she was doing it. "I'm glad you're here…I don't want to be left alone with Trixie." Her eyelids fluttered. "Thinks she's so great…you're a better pony than she could ever be."

Screwing up his courage, Snails gave her a shy nuzzle. "So are you."

The peaceful moment was all too suddenly interrupted as several things happened at once. There was shouting coming from outside the tent which made Trixie leap to her hooves and run for the tent flap. It opened just in time to be barreled over by Archer and Sweetie Belle who liberally draped Trixie with mud and rain and small twigs and leaves. Trixie's shocked and annoyed shout only redoubled when two more ponies, burst in.

Rainbow Dash shook her head as she scanned the inside of the tents. She saw four of her lost campers plus one all too familiar pony she wished had STAYED lost. "You!"

Trixie shook her cape trying to get the debris off it when she looked up. "Me?" She blinked when finally recognized the rainbow-maned pegasus. "You?"

"Who?" Big Macintosh looked from one mare to the other. "Her?"

"Her." Rainbow Dash said curtly, attempting to see if she could make Trixie spontaneously combust if she glared at her hard enough.

"Him!" Snails exclaimed see Big Macintosh squeeze himself into the now properly crowded tent.

"Us!" Archer and Sweetie Belle chimed in as they ran over and tackle hugged Silver Spoon and Snails.

"You!" They exclaimed in joy.

"Us!" The fillies returned.

"Them!"

"Uh, pronoun!" Sweetie said when she couldn't think of anything else to say.

"What are you, a dictionary?" Silver Spoon looked at her over the top of her glasses.

"ENOUGH!" Trixie stomped her hooves. "What is the meaning of all this? The Great and Powerful Trixie demands to know!"

Rainbow Dash sped over, shoving her head against Trixie's. "The Puny and Lame Trixie better explain why our campers were in your tent and if I don't like the answer then I'm going to feed you your own hat!" Rainbow seethed.

Trixie shoved back with her own forehead. "Trixie warns the silly little filly not to cross her unless she wants to be dried off with a little lightning!"

"Why don't you just go and pull a rabbit out of your hat? I'm sure he'd be braver than you!"

With a furrowed brow, Big Macintosh waded in between the two "That's enough ladies…and ah use the term loosely." He glared at Trixie, silently promising all sorts of horribly fates if she ever threatened Rainbow Dash again. Trixie let her eyes wander over the giant red stallion and felt her own resolve weaken.

Rainbow Dash humphed and looked at Big Mac. "I don't need your help, you know."

"Trixie thinks she certainly needs help of a *professional* nature." She snorted.

Big Macintosh held up a hoof hold on there Dash, don't go lettin' this snake-oil salespony get you all het up over nothing. 'Sides, we got to look at the big picture." He indicated the huddled group. "We're still two campers light."

Rainbow Dash's wings flared out in distress and anger. "Dinky! Pipsqueak! They're still out there! We have to find them!"

"Be Trixie's guest. Feel free to take the rest of your little herd with you when you go." She turned around. "The Great and Powerful Trixie has had enough headaches for one night."

"Not so fast there little lady." Big Macintosh stepped in front of her. "We ain't about to drag four little ponies back outside in the woods, not knowing where we're going. They're staying put right here."

Rainbow Dash looked horrified. "Mac! We can't just leave them with her!" She pointed an accusing hoof at Trixie. "This is a pony known for running off whenever things get too hot for her!"

Macintosh nodded. "Ah know. But think about it, she's a unicorn. Ah'm willing to bet she can cast some sort of spell that'll help us find Dinky and Pip, cain't ya Miss Trixie?" He turned to address her.

"Of course Trixie can. It would be a simple matter of using a locator spell. Even if that were to not work—not that any of Trixie's spells have ever failed, mind you—any lost pony would be able to see the brilliant shine of the Great and Powerful Trixie's horn!" She whipped off her hat to display her glowing horn. "That is how you found Trixie's tent, is it not?" Rainbow Dash gave an irritated scowl at Trixie. If the showmare radiated anymore smugness it would ooze from her like so much smooze.

"All right then." She relented, if unhappily. "C'mon oh Great and Powerful one. Let's go find some foals."

Big Macintosh held out a hoof, blocking her path to the tent flap. "Not so fast Rainbow."

"Those words never go together in a sentence." She moved his hoof away with her wing. "And why not?"

"Because we cain't just leave them all alone while we go out searching." He nodded towards Archer, Silver Spoon, Sweetie Belle and Snails. "Somepony has to stay behind and watch them."

Her eyes narrowed. "Fine, then YOU stay. I'll go with Trixie and keep an eye on her. I'm faster than you anyway."

"But ah'm more durable and yer hurt." Mac explained.

"So are you!" Rainbow countered.

"You need t'rest more than ah do." Knowing she would undoubtedly complain, Big Mac offered another explanation before Rainbow Dash could object. "And if you went with Trixie the two of y'all would be bickering and a feuding so much that it'd only slow things down." Macintosh explained evenly. "You know it's true."

Rainbow Dash's whole body seemed to quiver in anger and frustration. As much as she would have loved not to, what Big Mac said made since. And since articulating her own counterarguments was not one of Rainbow's strong suits, she went back to her old standby: turning away and crossing her legs over her chest and sitting down angrily.

"Just a moment!" Trixie objected. "Trixie never said that she WOULD go out into the dark searching for little ponies that you two Ponyville rubes had lost. Why should Trixie go along with—OOF!" She suddenly found herself shoved against a tent pole by a furious looking Rainbow Dash. Trixie hadn't taken her eyes off the fiery pegasus, nor even blinked. One instant she was on the far side of the tent, the next minute she was simply…here.

Rainbow Dash shoved her snout into Trixie's, her hot breath blowing onto Trixie's face. "You're going because I *said* so! There are two lost little ponies out there, one of whom is the daughter of one of my good friends and calls me her 'auntie' and the other is a sweet little colt and I would rather have every feather plucked from my wings than see anything happen to either of them." She jabbed her hoof meaningfully into Trixie's chest to accentuate her point. "You're going because you're our best bet of finding them. And if you don't…" She flared her wings out, growing larger in front of the increasingly terrified unicorn. "There will be no corner of Equestria where you'll be safe from me. I am Rainbow Dash and I am the fastest flier in the world. You won't be able to run, you won't be able to hide. And I will never, ever, *ever* stop hunting you if you leave those ponies out there on their own. Got it?" Trixie gave a little nod and squeaked.


	15. Chapter 15

After Rainbow Dash's outburst, Trixie and Big Macintosh quickly got underway. They walked in silence through the trees. After about fifteen minutes of quiet, Trixie decided she couldn't stand it any more.

"Hmph. Trixie wonders how far two little foals could have gone." She asked idly.

Big Macintosh shrugged. "Don't know. Don't matter none either, 'cause we're still gonna find them."

"Trixie…admires your sense of purpose." She said slowly, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. If she was waiting for a return compliment, she'd be waiting for a long time. Realizing as much, she pressed on. "I did not think there were ponies of your caliber in your…rustic town. My last visit was marred by some rather rude, uncouth ponies."

Macintosh gave her the stinkeye. "You're talking about mah little sister."

"Ah, the earth pony with the rope trick?" Trixie winced, she should've figured that one out. "I was actually referring to the white unicorn."

"Her little sister is best friends with mah other little sister."

"..well there was the pegasus and…" Her voice trailed off. "Don't tell me she's your marefriend."

Big Macintosh went from the stinkeye to full blown glower. "Eeyup!" He said firmly.

"Her?" Trixie blinked.

"Eeyup."

"You and the pegasus?" Trixie quirked her eyebrow elegantly.

"Eeyup!" Mac said a touch forcefully.

Trixie quailed. She opened her mouth but the only thing that came out was. "…"

Macintosh nodded and turned away as they continued on in an awkward quiet.

A few moments later Trixie pursued her lips and couldn't help blurting out: "…You sure she's just not using you for coloration?"

This confused the big red stallion as he turned back to her. "What's my color got to do with anything?" He stared at his red hide. Trixie did too, but tried not to be as obvious about it.

"Trixie means that that featherbrained pegasus most likely wishes to use a…fine, strapping, handsome stallion like yourself to boost her own ego."

"Miss Trixie? Three words: Teapot. Kettle. Black." Big Mac said with as much scorn as he could possibly muster. "And in any case, yer wrong. It ain't like that."

"Oh please." She rolled her eyes. "The Great and Powerful Trixie has been around—"

"I bet you have." Macintosh muttered.

"—and I've seen it many times before. An arrogant yet insecure little pony sets out to snag the most handsome stallion in town in order to make herself look better."

Big Mac kept walking, trying his best not to look at her. "Am ah hearing snippets of yer autobiography?" he asked, but Trixie was on a roll.

"Trixie can tell you're skeptical, but consider! She is friends with that second-rate magician Twilight Sparkle." She looked from side to side and whispered in his ear. "It's not as if a love potion would be so difficult for her to brew, now would it?"

"Ah've been under th' influence of love potions before. This ain't that."

Trixie didn't see that one coming. "Really? Who gave it to you?"

Macintosh sighed. "Mah little sister."

Trixie's eyes did am impressive imitation of a certain gray mail mare. "EEEUGH! Trixie doesn't need to hear this!" She shoved her hat down on her head.

Big Macintosh's face went redder when he figured it out. "It ain't like that!" He stamped his hoof. "She set me up with her teacher!"

"Oh…oh Celestia." Trixie shuddered. "Why didn't you say so?"

"Ah jest did! It ain't none of your business, no how!" Macintosh eyed her like something that had gotten stuck to his hoof. "Now, kin you keep your mind on finding them foals?"

Snorting in annoyance, Trixie relented. She lit up her horn as the two walked through the woods.

Back in the tent, Rainbow Dash was trying to ride herd on four little ponies. After spending the entire night finding out Big Macintosh liked her, followed *immediately* by fighting a bear and then spending the rest of it searching for the foals, she was about at the end of her endurance.

"Can't you guys just pleeeeeeeease go to sleep?" She all but begged. "Aren't you tired?"

"A bit." Archer admitted. "But we want to hear about how you and Big Macintosh fought off that bear! I bet it was awesome!"

Sweetie Belle hopped up and down. "I want to hear about how the two of you made it through the woods all by yourselves, overcoming the odds and braving perilous obstacles! Ooh I bet it was sooo romantic." Her hooves practically floated in midair.

Rainbow Dash groaned. "Sweetie, we were tired, sore, and covered with bruises. That might be some ponies idea of romantic but it sure isn't mine! Er, not that I'm big into all that romantic, mushy stuff." She added hastily, a low flush lighting her cheeks.

Silver Spoon looked at Snails who was trying to make himself invisible, without much success. She cleared her throat. "Um, Rainbow Dash? Can I talk to you?" Grateful for the reprieve, Rainbow nodded.

"Sure thing. You two, settle down!" The two eager fillies groaned in disappointment as she walked away to Silver Spoon. "So what's up?"

After making sure nopony was listening in, the gray filly shuffled her hooves. "So, um, you and Big Macintosh like each other, right?"

"Yeaaaaah…" Rainbow Dash nodded slowly. "What about it?"

"Well, there's this pony who sort of had a crush going on and now—" Silver was surprised when she felt Rainbow's hoof on her shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay." She said in understanding. "I can definitely see where you're coming from. Big Macintosh is a great pony, but there'll be other colts closer to your own age who you'll have more in common with. They might not be as awesome as Big Macintosh, but…"

Silver Spoon rolled her eyes. "It's not me!"

"…Oh. Of course not. It's a 'friend of yours,' right?" Rainbow Dash gave her a pitying looked that clearly showed she didn't believe her. She winked. "I getcha."

"No!" Silver Spoon face hooved, barely remembering to keep her voice down. "It's you!"

"You…have a crush on me?" Rainbow Dash's wings flared out in shock. "Um, okay wow I *really* didn't expect this…not that there's anything wrong with what you're feeling! I mean, um, have you talked to your parents about you—"

"No no no you featherbrain!" Silver Spoon could swear she felt a twitch develop under her eye. "It's Snails! He's had a crush on you this whole trip! How could you not notice?"

Rainbow Dash's mouth made a little 'o' of surprise. "…that makes a lot more sense." She conceded after a minute. Then she winced. "Oh. I guess he would take the news about me and Big Macintosh kinda hard huh?"

"He saw you two kissing in the woods." Silver declared bluntly. "We all did." She took a small amount of satisfaction in seeing the normally unflappable pegasus' jaw hanging open as a bright blush spread across her cheeks and down her neck.

"….Oh." Rainbow managed to squeak out in a voice that sounded more like Fluttershy than Rainbow Dash. She shook her head. "Um, okay, wow. Er…so I guess you think I should talk to him, huh?"

Silver Spoon gave an elegant glare over the top of her glasses that seemed to practically scream 'Gee, ya think?' without actually having to say anything.

"….Riiiight." Dash nodded as she walked away and made her way over to the lonely colt.

If Snails took any notice of her approach, he didn't show. He was facing the tent wall when Rainbow Dash arrived. She cleared her throat as she waited for him to turn around. "Um, Snails?"

"Oh, uh, hi there Rainbow Dash!" He put on a big smile that seemed oddly forced. "You found us!"

"Guess I did." She sat down. If anything she seemed even more uncomfortable than he did. "So….bear attacks aside, how've you been liking the camping trip?"

"It's been awesome!" Snails grin was smaller, but more sincere. "I got to meet lots of new ponies and I learned a whole bunch of stuff about plants and stuff and it was really fun spending time with…" His smile faded and he looked down. "…You."

Rainbow Dash had to fight to keep from instantly pulling the poor colt into a Fluttershy-type hug, or 'Flutterhug' if you will. "Well, I'm glad to hear it." She kept her tone even. "I like making sure that all my fans have a good time." She fidgeted. "You're a pretty cool colt, you know that?"

"R-really?" Snails felt his eyes grow wide. Rainbow Dash, the embodiment of awesomeness, thought that HE was cool? No way!

Rainbow Dash flashed him her most winning smile. "Hay yeah! It takes a lot of guts to try something totally new. I admire that in a pony. Er, in ponies who are just friends I mean!" She added hastily, rubbing the back of her head. "Aheh…eh."

Snails seemed to droop down. "Oh." Rainbow Dash felt like slamming her head against a tree. She felt like a world-class heel.

"Hey, c'mon now." She gently chucked his shoulder. "I'm really flattered and all and you're a nice colt. It's just that…" The right words just wouldn't come. Ugh why was this so hard?

"I get it." Snails drawled. "I'm slow and you're fast. I talk funny and you're cool. I'm everything you're not."

"Whoa!" She held up her hooves. "Hold it right there. First of all, that's not true. Even it was, then good for you."

"Huh?" Snails was confused.

Honestly, so was Rainbow Dash but she was on a roll. And in typical Dash style, it was better just to go and do than to spend all day thinking and worrying about it. She who hesitates is lost and thinking too much can just distract you when you need to go on gut. That was her philosophy anyway.

"Snails, I'm going to level with you. When I was your age I wasn't nearly as nice as you are. Yeah, I stood up for Fluttershy and stuff but I really wasn't the most patient or understanding of foals. I got frustrated easily and when I get frustrated with somepony, I tend to say or do stuff that I later end up regretting. Maybe I still do, but it was way worse when I was younger." Dash chuckled. "Heh, I guess Fluttershy and the gang's been rubbing off on me; maturing me." She rolled her eyes as if to say, 'that'll be the day!' She let her wing drape itself over Snails' back. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that as cool as I am, NOT being me isn't the worst thing in the world. Hay, most of my best friends are nothing like me but I wouldn't trade them for anything. You gotta stop judging yourself by my standard. You're not me, you're you. And there's no pony better at being you, than you."

Snails wiped a hoof across his face. " I-I dunno…" Rainbow nudged him gently.

"C'mon, I can prove it. You have your Cutie Mark, right?"

He looked down to check. "Yup."

"Now think about Sweetie Belle and her friends: they don't have their Cutie Marks, do they?" Snails looked over at Sweetie Belle's flank. He shook his head. "You wanna know why?" She waited for him to nod. "It's because they spend all their time trying to be something or somepony they're not. Apple Bloom always tries to act like Applejack, Sweetie Belle tries to be like Rarity and Scootaloo tries to be like me—not that I blame her. I *am* pretty awesome." She winked at Snails who nodded in agreement. "But they totally end up failing every time because they're trying to be somepony or something they're not! Don't get me wrong, those fillies are really awesome and not having a Cutie Mark isn't the end of the world," She waved a hoof. "But do you start to get it? If spent all my time thinking about how I'm not as smart as Twilight or not as random as Pinkie or not as…apple-y as Applejack, then I'd never figure out how to be the totally awesome pegasus that I am today. More so, I mean. Does that make sense?"

Snails blinked. "I…think so."

Rainbow Dash sighed. Introspective moments were hard. "Look, it's okay if you don't get everything now. You gotta flap before you can fly after all. Now it's reaaaally late, like so late it's morning and I want to sleep." She tousled his mane as she got up. "Okay, everypony, time for bed!" The exhaustion of the previous night had finally caught up to the little ponies as they didn't even protest.

As she started to settle in, Rainbow Dash found Snails snuggling up to her side. Before she could say a word she found Silver Spoon doing the same, with Archer and Sweetie Belle scooting in on her other side. With a sigh and a tired smile, Rainbow stretched out her wings over the four little ponies like a blanket as held them close. Right before she nodded off she murmured to a yawning Silver Spoon. "Snails is really lucky to have you for a friend." The little filly just rested her head on Rainbow's foreleg and was asleep within seconds. Rainbow Dash joined the little ponies in their long awaited sleep just as the first rays of dawn started to peer over the horizon.


	16. Chapter 16

Trixie and Big Macintosh continued their trek through the woods, stepping lightly to avoid exposed roots that jutted out of the ground. Trixie winced as the early morning sun caught her in the eyes. She narrowed her eyes as she took a step, not seeing the exposed root until her hoof caught it. Barely having time to let out a startled squawk, Trixie felt herself falling forward until she was caught by something sturdy and warm. Blinking she found herself staring up into the face of Big Mac.

"Y-you saved Tri—me?" She shuddered slightly. How long had been since she had somepony hold her in their hooves?

Big Macintosh slowly guided her back to her hooves. "Reckon so. Ah was raised t'be a gentlepony." He nodded at her.

Heat spread across her cheeks. Trixie wasn't used to the sensation. She tugged on the collar of her cape. It felt tight all of a sudden. "T-thank you." She murmured gratefully. This was a record setting day for things Trixie seldom ever experienced.

Mac just grunted. "C'mon. Let's keep going." He started walking again, Trixie this time letting him take the lead. She idly found herself licking her lips as she watched Macintosh's firm rump sway back and forth in front of her as he walked.

Either the uncharacteristic silence of the showpony was unnerving him or because he felt her gaze on his backside, Mac felt prompted to turn around. "Can ah help you?" He asked evenly as if commenting on the weather.

"Yes!" Trixie coughed. "Trixie would like to know what you do."

Macintosh slowed down so they were walking astride once more. "Ah'm an apple farmer."

"With your physique Trixie should have guessed as much, though you could have been a body builder or a model." She looked at him in what she thought was a subtle if smoldering look. Big Macintosh was left wondering if something she ate was disagreeing with her.

He shook his head. "Eenope. Ah know a body builder back in Ponyville, a pegasus who done bulked hisself up so much that his wings shrunk to the size of a foal's." Trixie snerked at the mental image. "He can still fly though." Macintosh added. "Can't rightly see how though."

With a practiced air of nonchalance, Trixie shrugged. "Flying isn't exactly thaumaturgical theory. Any mule with a pair of wings can apparently do it." Her lip curled as she planted the barb.

Big Macintosh gave her a lidded stare. "Miss Trixie, if you wanna keep flapping your gums ah suggest you do it where ah can't hear you. Mah granny taught me never to hit a filly, but she also raised me to defend the honor of the ponies ah care about. Don't make me find out which lesson ah learned better."

The rest of the morning didn't fair much better. Trixie found herself biting her tongue again after that and settled for sneaking looks at the well built stallion who did his best to ignore her altogether. What's worse, the was a bright rainbow in the sky, just visible through the trees as they walked. Trixie could see the dopey look on Big Macintosh's face as he looked at it. She knew he wasn't just admiring the pretty colors for their own sake. He was clearly thinking of something else.

Finally she could take it no more. "Trixie fails to see why you are so enamored of that skinny little slip of a filly." She all but snarled.

Reminded of her presence, Big Macintosh frowned but determined not to let this interfere with their search for Dinky and Pip. "Then that's your loss." Mac shrugged his massive shoulders as he turned away, hoping that would be the end of it. He should've known better.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie will not be ignored!" She trotted up, glaring at him. "I asked you a question!"

"Eenope. You didn't."

"What?" She blinked. "I just did!"

"You made a statement." Big Mac drawled. "T'aint the same thing."

Trixie facehooved. "So suddenly you're a grammar expert?"

"Better than being a dictionary, or so ah'm told." Macintosh observed airily.

Her lower eyelid twitched. "Enough! Explain to Trixie just how you and the pegasus came to be?"

Big Macintosh rubbed his muzzle with his hoof. "Well, ah reckon it started back with my parents. Y'see, when a mare and a stallion love each other very much…" He was enjoying himself way too much.

"Is it possible for you to be serious for a moment?" Trixie's horn glowed threateningly. Unfazed, Big Mac shrugged.

"If you'd like. So you want to know about me and Rainbow Dash?"

"That is what Trixie has been saying." She ground out between clenched teeth. Big Macintosh chewed his piece of wheat as he marshaled his thoughts.

"Well, ah suppose I like her spunk. She's lively, energetic and a lot of fun once you git used to her. Dash is brave, loyal, and while she'll never admit it, very caring."

"Are we talking about the same pegasus? That brash, loudmouthed hothead?" She looked at him demandingly.

"Jealous, are ya?" Macintosh chuckled.

"Never! I'm simply pointing out the unfairness of it all!" Trixie stamped her hoof. "Why should that pegasus get all the breaks and not Trixie? She's a featherbrained, big headed egomaniac who only cares about herself! How is she so much better than Trixie then?" She screamed at him.

Big Macintosh scrunched up his face, frustrated and annoyed. "Ifn you really wanna know. Fine. Here's it is: I'll admit that Rainbow Dash gets a big head sometimes, but she more than makes up for it by having an even bigger heart. And as for only caring about herself, you're couldn't be any wronger about Rainbow Dash if you tried. Whenever there's trouble she's allus the first pony to face it…which sometimes bites her in the rump, but she'll never leave a friend hanging when they really need her and will risk anything for the ponies she cares about. What's more, she can admit to being wrong now and again and apologize." Big Macintosh looked Trixie in the eyes. "When was the last time you did that?"

"…But she and her friends wrecked my show…my carriage…" Trixie defended herself.

"And I'm supposin' you had nothing to do with that?" Big Macintosh gave the look he gave Apple Bloom that time she denied she was sneaking cookies…while her hoof was in the jar. "Miss Trixie, you came into town a boasting and a bragging worse than a prize pig with a blue ribbon."

"I'm an entertainer. I make my living impressing ponies." Trixie snorted indignantly, drawing herself up.

"Maybe so. But I bet if the Wonderbolts started every show by spending half an hour announcing how great they were, no pony would stick around long enough for them to do their act. You started bragging before you even did anything. And what did you do when Rainbow Dash, mah sister and her friends called you out on it? Instead of performing, you made up some cockamamie story about battling an Ursa Major. That weren't even an exaggeration of yer skills, it was a bald-faced lie. And then *you* challenged anypony to come up on stage with you so you could outdo them. Only you didn't outdo anypony, you just tried to embarrass them. If you can't deliver what you say you can and kin only get applause by making some other pony look bad, then get a new line of work."

An' as for your carriage…that was a shame what happened to it, and I'm sorry times have been tough for you, but you can't blame a pair of foals for swallowing a lie you told them. You wrapped those two little foals around your hooves. They looked up to you and you fed them a pack of lies. What they did wrong was to trust you—believe in—you. If you're going through life and things go wrong because ponies trust you, then yer doing something wrong."

Big Macintosh towered over her. Trixie looked down and away, suddenly feeling even smaller before him than she normally did. He exhaled suddenly feeling very tired. "Look Miss Trixie, ah don't know your whole story. But if you're looking at Rainbow Dash and wondering why she has friends and admirers and why we can put up with her big-headedness and not yours, that's why. We've all seen there's more to her than her braggin' admits. Hay, ah'd go so far t'say that she's actually better than her own bragging makes her out to be. Ah haven't seen anything like that from you. Mebe you've got something beneath all that 'Great and Powerful' hooey, mebe not. Ah don't rightly know. But if you want to have what Rainbow Dash has, you best be changing that. One of the foals with us, Silver Spoon? Well she was one of the school bullies, made fun of my little sister something awful. But she's been workin' hard to be somethin' different. Ah reckon it might be easier for her since she's a young filly, but if she can do it then you can too. The question you got to ask yourself is: are you happy now?" He smacked his lips, his throat feeling very dry. He was not used to doing that much talking. "Ah've said my piece, let's not talk about it anymore, all right?"

Trixie nodded. "Okay." She murmured softly. The red stallion nodded and kept walking with her tagging along behind him. In her head her mind was awash with confusion. One part of her mind raged at the unfairness of it all. She was the Great and Powerful Trixie! She should have legions of fans all across Equestria, she deserved it! They should be descending to rescue Trixie from the uncouth company she'd found herself in and march back to Ponyville to properly deal with those ponies who had doubted her. But another part of her mind—a calmer, quieter and somehow powerful part—asked her: what does the Great and Powerful Trixie have? Friends? Ponies who'd care about her if she went missing? If so, why didn't they come to her aid after she lost her carriage? And if she didn't have anypony, then why not? If being Great and Powerful didn't attract companionship, then that begged the question: what did?

Dinky Doo scrunched her eyes closed when she felt the sun's rays shine into her eyes. She groaned and snuggled closer to the soft, warmth beside her. Her stirring woke Pipsqueak who yawned and scratched himself. "Hrram?" He mumbled unintelligibly. Climbing to his hooves, Pip shook himself awake and started stretching. Looking around he saw bright drops of dew shimmering on leaves. Thirsty, he greedily started sucking the water from the plants.

Remembering to save some in a curled up leaf, he turned back to Dinky. The little gray unicorn filly was still curled up. Grinning, Pip nudged her with his snout. "Hey Dinky. It's morning."

She groaned and curled up tighter. After thinking for a moment, Pip wandered over and bit off one of the dew-covered leaves. Then he carried it over in his mouth and gently sprinkled some of the dew on her face.

Shivering as the cold dew splashed her face, Dinky forced her eyes open. "No fair…" She yawned. Pipsqueak laughed.

"Sorry." He couldn't keep the smile off his face. "Thirsty?"

Dinky swallowed, her mouth dry. "Gimme." Pip set it down in front of her so she could drink her fill. She got up and drank another couple of leafs worth of dew. Sighing in satisfaction she wandered back to Pipsqueak. "So what do we do now?"

Pip shrugged. "I guess we wait some more…I'm sure they'll find us soon." Dinky sat down looking morose as she looked up at the pink sky.

"Momma's probably just starting her mail run now." She commented sadly. Pip sat down next to her, letting her lean against him. "She'll swing by Sugarcube Corner for her morning muffin when she goes to drop off their mail. S-she'd always get one for me for later for w-when she got ho-ome and…" Dinky started to cry. "I miss my momma so mu-uch!" She hiccupped.

"It's okay Dinky, please don't cry." Pip put a hoof on her back only to be startled when she hugged him around his middle and start bawling on his shoulder. He started rubbing her back the way his mom did for him when he was upset. "It'll be okay, I promise."

Dinky sniffled. "M'kay." Her stomach growled loudly. Pip snorted, making her blush. "Sorry. I guess I'm hungry."

"It's okay. Maybe we can do something to take our minds off it."

"Like what?"

Pip thought for a moment, then his eyes lit up. "Hey, can you do any magic?"

Shyly, Dinky scraped her hoof in the dirt. "Not really…I can sorta do only one thing, but it's silly."

"I'd like to see it." Pip nudged her.

"I-I dunno…" Dinky squirmed, embarrassed.  
>Pip's ears lowered as he gave the most adorable pout. "Pleeeease?"<p>

"You promise not to laugh?" She asked hesitantly.

Pip nodded. "I Pipsqueak Pirate Promise!" He made a random gesture over his heart with his hoof.

Dinky giggled, guessing he was still too scared to invoke a Pinkie Promise. "Well, okay! Here goes!" She closed her eyes and concentrated hard. Her horn shimmered faintly with a lavender light. Sweat started to trickle down her face as she focused. Then at the very tip of her horn a small bubble started to form. It grew larger and larger until it was about hoof sized and then it detached from her horn and started wafting in the breeze. Other bubbles soon followed until the air above them was full of them. Dinky panted as she stopped, exhausted.

Pipsqueak's eyes grew large. "Wow! That's amazing!"

"Really?" She squeaked. Pip nodded then his eyes crossed as he watched one bubble lazily float down and land on the tip of his nose. He blinked and it popped.

He grinned. "Betcha I can catch more than you can!" Without waiting for her to answer he started to run after the other bubbles as they started to float down, popping them adorably with his little nose. Dinky squealed and ran after him.

"Can not!"

The two foals laughed as they leaped up in the air, catching and popping bubbles on their noses, their flanks, with their tails, their hooves until there was only one left. Dinky saw it in the exact same moment that Pipsqueak did.

They both ran for it as it descended. Pip had his muzzle upturned so he could catch it on his nose and Dinky quickly imitated him. The two little ponies reached the bubble at the same time, with it delicately landing on both their noses.

Pip and Dinky scrunched up their faces to prevent the bubble from popping as they stood there, still as the trees, fighting back giggles. For a second the bubble shimmered, then they could see clear through it, their eyes meeting.

The bubble twitched, threatening to fall between them. They moved closer together to support the last bubble until their faces drew closer and closer. Then, without either one of them fully realizing it, their lips pressed together. The bubble burst, revealing two red-faced little ponies staring at each other, their lips still locked in their first kiss.

Slowly they took a step back, blushing too brightly to even look at one another. Then, still perfectly synchronized, they looked back at each other. Seeing the same sheepish expression on the other that they knew they were wearing themselves made them start to giggle with soon exploded into all out laughter as they hugged each other.  
>&amp;<p> 


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Quick, short update. Sorry about the length and the delay, had a family crisis intervene.  
><strong>  
>&amp;<p>

Dinky's tail was swishing back and forth as she hopped around Pipsqueak, who was in turn hopping around her for no reason other than the sheer joy of hopping. She let out a stream of giggles that threatened to never stop.

Pip smiled at her. "Wow! You're the greated friend ever!" Dinky stopped bouncing long enough to face him.

"Yeah!" Then she paused. "Wait, friends? Aren't we more than friends?" Dinky didn't know much about coltfriends but according to Sparkler's diary, 'just friends' usually meant something bad.

The tiny pinto colt was confused. "What's more than friends?"

"Um…I unno." Dinky paused. "But…I thought me and you were special. More than friends."

"Like what? We have fun together, we tell each other everything…what's missing? We're not 'just' friends—you're my best friend ever." Pip tilted his head. "What else is there?"

Dinky's cheeks blushed. She didn't actually know. Could there be something better than being best friends with a colt you liked? Right now, she couldn't think of anything better. "Never mind." She nuzzled him gently. Dinky looked up at the sun peeking through the tree tops, dappling the leaves with light. "Think Rainbow Dash and Big Macintosh'll find us?"

"I'm sure they will!" Pip nudged her. "Tell you what, wanna learn how to climb a tree? I betcha we'll find them for sure if we're up high!"

"I've never climbed a tree before." Dinky admitted. "Is it hard?"

Pip shook his head. "Nu uh! I'll help you." He nudged the little filly along.

She looked up at the tall tree before her, covered with small to middling sized branches. Gulping nervously, she grasped for the lowest branch and pulled herself up with a grunt. Pip pulled himself up alongside her with practiced ease that suggested he'd done this before.

"Good! Now you just do it again." He said cheerfully. Dinky reached up on her hindlegs, grasping for the next branch. She let out a sudden squeak as she felt Pip work his way under her and provided a boost. Scrambling to the next branch Dinky hauled herself up again.

They went higher and higher, the leaves brushing against Dinky's face. She stopped just long enough to look around. Her mouth formed a silent 'o' of surprise and wonder. She was high in the canopy now. All of the forest laid itself out before her, the squirrels in the trees, the sound of birdsongs in the morning air…Dinky held up a hoof, trying to get a better look.

"What is it?" Pip shouted from a few branches down.

"I see something!" She narrowed her eyes and leaned forward. Was that a flash of red in between the trees? "I think it's B-eeeeeeek!" She had leaned forward too far and was now flailing as she tried to keep her balance. "Aaahhh!"

"Dinky! Hold on!" Pipsqueak yelled as he scrambled up. He was three branches below her.

"H-hurry!" Dinky's eyes were moist. "I d-don't think I can!"

"Almost there!" Now he was two branches down. With a determined leap he managed to grab the one above him, but couldn't pull himself up. His tiny legs dangled as he kicked, trying to haul himself up.

Pip heard Dinky's soft cries of fear and that fired his resolve. He managed to pull himself up to the branch just below hers. He was just in time to see Dinky's hindleg slip as she carted around for firmer footing. With a scream she pitched forward and fell out of the tree. "DINKY!"

"Aaaaaaaaaaieee!" Dinky shouted as she fell, her hoofs casting about for something to hold on to, but there was nothing. She couldn't grab any of the branches as she rushed past them. The ground was getting closer and closer.

A MOMENT EARLIER...

Trixie's horn emitted a series of soft pulses of light. She explained that the rate of the pulses would increase the closer they were to the foals.

It was early morning and the pulses were getting faster. "We are getting close." Trixie announced, though her tone lacked any sense of pride or triumph that it once would have.

Big Macintosh—tired, sore, and in dire need of a bath—perked up. "Eeyup." He picked up his pace. Trixie repressed a groaned and tried her best to match him. The operative word being tried. It had been a long night and she was tired and not used to the sort of endurance that Big Macintosh was.

Her horn was now almost purely light. "We…must be right…on top of them!" She panted as she slowed to a stop.

Big Macintosh looked around. "You sure? Ah don't see them anywhere. That horn o'yers up to snuff?"

Trixie glowered. "Do I tell you how to farm? Trixie is sure the foals are here!"

The red earth pony demonstratively took a slow turn around the area. There were plants, trees and rocks aplenty, but a shortage of any ponies. "Right on top of them, huh?" He rolled his eyes—which is why he saw before he heard Dinky as she fell from the treetop. "Sweet star apples!" He blurted. "Hang on Dinky, I'll catch ya!" He stood on his hindhooves and darted to and fro as he tried to position himself underneath the falling filly. Dinky's screams were growing louder and Big Macintosh could feel his heart pounding in his chest, the blood pumping in his ears. Throwing his forelegs apart, Big Macintosh shouted "I got ya!"

…two seconds before Dinky stopped in mid air, surrounded by a faint blue magic aura. Dinky, not quite realizing her situation, continued screaming for another five seconds and kicking her legs before she realized that she'd come to a complete stop.

Big Macintosh, still on his hindlegs, blinked.

"You forgot I was here, didn't you?" Trixie smirked. She looked up at Dinky, who was panting but was otherwise fine. "My, how early the fruit is falling this year." She gently set the filly down.

"T-thank you miss." Dinky shivered, jittery and still swathed with adrenaline.

"Dinky! You okay?" Came a shout from the tree. Big Mac and Trixie looked up to see Pipsqueak waving a tiny hoof frantically.

Sitting down on her rump, Dinky looked back up and waved. "A huh! I'm okay! Thanks to Big Macintosh and…" she looked at Trixie as if just really noticing her. "Who are you?"

On cue, Trixie reared up and spread her forelegs apart. "I am the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Her cape billowed brilliantly. "It was I who led us here in time to save you from certain doom!"

Dinky blinked. "Oh, thank you!" Beat. "Where's Rainbow Dash?" She asked Big Mac innocently. "And what's that sound?"

'That sound' was the noise of Trixie grinding her teeth together. Macintosh cleared his throat. "Rainbow's back with the others. You all right?" Dinky nodded quickly. Mac tilted his head up. "What about you Pip?"

"A-okay cap'n!" Pip saluted as he slowly started making his way down.

"Let Trixie assist you." With a glow of her horn, Pip felt himself being lifted off the tree branch and lowered down to the ground.

Dinky ooohed appreciatively at the display of magic, wishing she were capable of feats like that. Trixie smiled and tossed her head, highlighting her profile and her—in her own ever humble opinion—magnificent horn. Pip however felt himself jerked back and forth as Trixie moved her head around. The young colt bit his lip as he grew dizzy, his face turning pale, then green.

"Ta da!" Trixie proclaimed as she gently set Pipsqueak down next to her. She turned triumphantly to Big Macintosh. "What did Trixie tell you? I found the foals with no problems. And look, they simply adore me!" She waved a hoof at the spell bound Dinky and the nauseous Pip who was clinging to Trixie until his world stopped spinning.

Big Mac stepped back. "Um, Trixie, maybe you oughta—"

But she waved him off "Tut tut! Trixie will show you that she is just as capable of taking care of little ponies as your Rainbow Dash, neigh, even more so for the Great and Powerful Trixie loves foals!" She gave Pipsqueak a hardy pat on the back as her face split into a wide smile. She even managed to keep that smile when Pip barfed on her hooves. 


	18. Chapter 18

"I'm really sorry miss!" Pipsqueak apologized for the fourth time.

And for the fourth time, Trixie grumbled something that might've been an acceptance or nothing at all as she scrubbed her hooves in the river.

Big Mac put his hoof on Pip's shoulder…though in reality it covered most of the little pony's body. "S'allright Pip, she knows you didn't mean no harm. It was just an accident. Right Trixie?" He raised his voice.

The showmare stopped washing her hooves and shot him a stiff nod. "Of course it was! The Great and Powerful Trixie has been in show business long enough not to be bothered by such…unpleasantness."

The small colt blushed as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah…um, okay?" Dinky gave him a fond nuzzle, but still made a point to hold her breath until they got Pip something to wash his mouth out with.

Macintosh gave the two foals a nudge. "Why don't you two just give us a second here?" Pip and Dinky nodded and sat on some flat stones as he headed down to the riverbank just in time to see Trixie finish her ablutions.

"You ready to travel?"

"Certainly." Trixie held up a blue hoof, so clean it almost sparkled. Big Macintosh nodded.

"Alright then…now, just remember these two are just young'ns. They're tired, small and they can't go as fast as we can. So just keep your patience with them, a'right?"

"Of course! Trixie can do anything…including take care of foals!" She declared, flaring her cape dramatically. Mac chewed on his ever-present wheat stalk for a moment, giving her a half-lid stare. Feeling the silence bear down on her, she cleared her throat and added. "It is true! The Great and Powerful Trixie can do anything." She tossed her mane and shot the red stallion a winning smile…only to see him raise his right eyebrow a fraction of an inch higher. "…and no! I am not just saying that to show you that Trixie is better than your precious Rainbow Dash! Where do you even get that sort of idea?"

Macintosh rolled his eyes and turned to walk away.

Rainbow Dash stirred gently. It was about noon. Feeling several warm bodies pressed against her, she lifted her head to take a look around. Sweetie Belle was sleeping on her back, her belly rising and falling as she gently snored. Archer was curled up in a tight ball, wedged against Dash's side. Silver Spoon was still cuddled up against Rainbow's foreleg, hugging it in her sleep and using it as a pillow…Rainbow winced as she felt Silver Spoon drooling on her but didn't want to disturb her. Snails somehow managed to sleep on his back, next to Rainbow Dash, but still have his long neck to flop over Silver Spoon's back so that his cheek was rubbing against Silver's.

Smiling gently, Rainbow stretched her limbs as much as she could without disturbing her charges. Even so, Sweetie Belle stirred slightly, causing her legs to stretch out in all directions as she yawned. She idly scratched her belly and smacked her lips in a way that was adorable but still would've thrown Rarity into a conniption fit.

"Rainbow Dash?" Sweetie mewled sleepily. "Is Big Macintosh back yet?"

Rainbow squirmed, trying to turn her head as much as she could. "Afraid not."

Sweetie Belle sighed, rolling over on her belly. "I'm kinda hungry."

At that moment Rainbow Dash's own stomach chimed in, rumbling in agreement. She sighed. "Yeah, me too. I don't know about you though, but cooking isn't really my thing."

"I can cook!" Sweetie said as she got to her hooves, stretching her legs out. "Rarity lets me cook for her all the time!"

Had Rainbow Dash been more awake and thinking more properly she would've caught on that Sweetie Belle had stretched the truth beyond the breaking point and back again, but as it was she just yawned and nodded. "Sure. I'll be out in a minute. Go look around to see if the 'Great and Powerful' Dixie has any food lying around. No fires until I'm outside though."

"Got it!" Sweetie saluted, rifling around Trixie's bags. Rainbow settled in for a few more minutes of sleep. She had only just closed her eyes when she heard Sweetie Belle calling her. "Um, Rainbow Dash?"

Groaning slightly, the pegasus in question sat up. "Yeah?"

"I wanted to say thank you." Sweetie walked over. "This trip was so much fun!" She jumped up, wiggling her hooves in midair.

"Heh, that's Rainbow Dash Adventures: fun guaranteed or else." She grinned. "This has been pretty cool for me too."

"You mean because of you and Big Macintosh?" Sweetie's eyes grew large as her mouth formed a silent 'aww.'

To her annoyance, Rainbow Dash actually felt herself blush. "W-well, yeah, but not just that! Spending time with you fillies and colts has actually been awesome."

"It has?" Sweetie tipped her head.

"Sure! I guess it's cool to have fans and the Rainbow Dash Fan Club and stuff…but I don't think I ever really took the time to know you guys. You're really amazing ponies."

"We are?"

"Hay, yeah! I just said so didn't I? All that stuff you guys have done: camping, pranks, singing, surviving out in the forest on your own in the night…that was pretty darn cool."

Sweetie beamed. "Oh wow, Archer was right!"

"I'll say she was!" Rainbow blinked. "Uh, about what?"

"Archer said that you don't need a cutie mark to be special or cool and that you can do a lot of great things even if you don't have one!" Sweetie bounced up and down. "Dinky and Pip don't have their cutie marks either but they're great!"

Dash nodded. "Smart filly."

"Yeah! I found out that maybe Rarity's books aren't always the best when it comes to finding your special somepony," Rainbow settled for an eye roll in answer to that. "…and that even mean ponies can be really nice if you give them a chance!" Sweetie hugged Dash's side. "This has been the best time ever!"

"Glad to hear it." Rainbow rested her head atop of Sweetie Belle's. "You're gonna have a lot of stories to tell Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, aren't ya?"

"Uh huh! Like meeting that sea serpent, telling ghost stories, the truth or dare, making you drink so much cider that you really, really, REALLY had to go…"

"OKAY, I think that's enough." Rainbow Dash gave her a noogie.

Sweetie bit her lip. "Do you think…Apple Bloom and Scootaloo will be mad that I made new friends? Without them?"

"Of course not! Making new friends doesn't mean forgetting about your best friends. When I went to Appleloosa I met this buffalo, Little Strongheart. Actually, I didn't exactly *like* her that much when we first met, but we ended up friends. Kind of like you and Silver Spoon."

Sweetie Belle looked nervous. "You don't think…that the Crusaders will be mad at me for being friends with her?"

"Oh." Rainbow gently shuffled her wings, taking care not to disturb the remaining sleeping ponies. "That's…okay, well." She cleared her throat. "Look, if ponies can forgive Luna after the whole 'plunge Equestria into eternal darkness' thing, I think your friends can give Silver Spoon another chance. Cheerilee told me when she came up with this idea how worried she was that you would all form your own little groups and never make friends outside of them. I bet she'd be really proud of you and Silver Spoon." Sweetie's look brightened. Dash gave an encouraging smile. "What happens next is up to you two. If you don't want to end up the way you were when this trip started, then you're both going to have to deal with the fact that your best friends don't like each other. Maybe you two can fix that. Maybe not. Still, it'd be a shame if things went back to the way they were. It'd make this whole trip kind of a waste, don't you think?"

"I guess so." Sweetie mumbled. "I'm kinda worried about Scootaloo though. I mean, what if she gets jealous because I got to go on this really cool trip with you and she thinks you're the most awesome pony ever and now I come back with new friends that she doesn't like and—" Open mouth, insert hoof.

Once she had Sweetie's attention, Rainbow Dash removed her hoof from the little unicorn's mouth. "Relax. I'm sure Scootaloo will be okay with it. And if she's not, just tell me and I'll talk some sense into Scootaloo, okay?" She scratched her mane. "I should probably do that anyway—spend more time with my number one fan and all…and Silver Spoon, you're not fooling anypony. I know you're awake."

The silver pony in question slowly opened one eye. "How'd you know?"

Rainbow shrugged her wings. "I know a thing or two about sleeping and not sleeping. You held your breath when there was something you really wanted to hear."

"…Oh." Silver winced. "Sorry. I just—"

"Wanted to hear what I was going to tell Sweetie Belle? I figured. Everything I said to her applies to you too."

The filly nodded. "I know." She looked at the filly in question and gave an awkward kind of nod, one that said that she felt the same way. Rainbow Dash stood, stretching languidly. Archer stirred slightly and Snails remained flopped across Silver Spoon. "Um, a little help?" She asked the pegasus.

Rainbow smirked. "Eeeenah. You can wait while I help Sweetie get breakfast started." She gave a half-wave and walked out of the tent, Sweetie following shortly behind her, giggling.

Silver Spoon groaned as Snails let out a snore. Great.

Big Macintosh strode along, listening with half an ear as Trixie performed minor slight of hoof magic for Pip and Dinky to make the time go by faster. From the gentle 'oohs' and 'awws' from the foals, he guessed that she wasn't doing a half bad job at it.

"Thank you, thank you! The Great and Powerful Trixie appreciates your appreciation!" She paused, mentally wishing she'd thought that through a bit better. Covering it up with a flourished bow, she trotted ahead to Big Macintosh.

Big Mac gave her a polite smile. "Do you also do Cutie Markvitzvahs, Cute-Ceañeras, weddings, and birthdays?"

"Hmph! Trixie is not a clown or a simple magician! I have strode the stage from Hoofington to Trottingham and shall one day stride forth in front of crowds from Las Pegasus to Canterlot itself!"

"All right, all right." Big Mac held up a hoof. "Ah didn't mean nothing by it. Ah'm sure you're a real show stopper." Much in the same way that his little sister and her friends stopped the show at the school talent show, but he didn't feel the need to voice that thought aloud.

Nodding primly, Trixie flared her cape dramatically. "And what of you? Will you and your…charming pegasus friend be continuing your little camp out?"

Macintosh shook his head. "Ah reckon I'll talk it over with Dash first…but ah think we'll be heading for home. We can send somepony later to get our gear from the campsite…what's left of it anyways."

"A shame. Still, Trixie supposes that you and the foals will need some time to rest and recover before journeying back? When was the last time you slept?"

Mac grunted. He hadn't slept since the night before last so he'd been up a solid twenty-four hours. "Ah can wait till we get Pip and Dinky back." He paused. "Thanks for yer hospitality."

Trixie waved her hoof as if it were of no consequence…and as if she had been presented with much a choice. "The Great and Powerful Trixie can also be great and generous…think what you will of me, but I would never turn away a foal in need…no matter how annoying and career ruining they might be." She added, grumbling under her breath. Fortunately, Big Mac didn't seem to hear that last part.

"Ah never said otherwise. You might be a mite…" he considered the words pretentious and arrogant before disregarding them as too inflammatory, "prickly, but that don't make you a bad pony."

Trixie smirked. It was working. She knew no stallion could resist her charms! "Hmph, just wait until we get back to my tent. Trixie will prepare for you and your charges the most exquisite of traveler's fare, learned from the very best chefs of Neigh Orleans!"

"Do you got apples?" Mac asked.

"My dear Macintosh, there is more to cooking than just apples!" Trixie threw her hooves open wide. "There are gumbos, jambalayas—the best of centuries of traditional Neigh Orleans cooking tradition!"

Macintosh blinked slowly. "So, no apples?" He asked in incomprehension. "Fraid ah don't follow you."

Trixie grimaced but strode ahead so he wouldn't see her annoyance. "Never fear! Soon you shall see the light of my…FIRE!" Her voice rose into a shriek.

Big Macintosh charged forward after giving a brief shout of "Stay here!" to Pip and Dinky. He burst through the underbrush in time to see a roaring fire quickly extinguished by a cyan pegasus with a now empty bucket. "Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow cast the bucket aside and flew over to give Macintosh a hug. "Hey big guy! Did you find them?"

"Auntie Rainbow!" "Rainbow Dash!" Dash's answer came in the form of two small foals tackle-hugging her to the ground. Mac smiled.

Trixie however looked at the singed ground and tent with something approaching terror. "W-what…how…?"

"Aww, and I almost had it too!" The white filly protested. "The water was almost hot enough to make soup!"

Trixie's eyebrow twitched. "Y-you…caused all this…and you were just boiling the water?"

From her position on the ground, Rainbow Dash let out a sigh. "Never let Sweetie Belle cook."


	19. Chapter 19

Breakfast ended up being a very modest affair of oatmeal and toast. Trixie was disappointed because she was unable to impress Big Macintosh with Neigh Orleans style cooking. Big Macintosh, in turn, was disappointed due to a depressing lack of apples. Sweetie Belle was disappointed because her own attempts at breakfast came out so dismally. The other foals were disappointed that their trip was going to be cut short and that they'd have to go home soon. Rainbow Dash was disappointed because everypony else was and she didn't want to be left out.

There was a certain hangdog air about the camp between the sad meals, sad faces and the generally sad state of the camp (Big Macintosh had wrung a terse apology out of Rainbow Dash and Sweetie Belle for lightly charring the place). So it was a quite an uncomfortable breakfast.

So Sweetie took it upon herself to try to break the ice. "Miss Trixie…are you coming back to Ponyville with us?"

The ice was suddenly broken and everypony promptly fell into freezing glacial water.

"NO WAY!" Rainbow Dash and Trixie leapt to their hooves and shouted in unison.

The two mares then whirled on another. "And why not?" Trixie demanded, pushing her forehead against Rainbow's.

"Because we don't want you back!" Rainbow Dash shot back.

"As if Trixie would ever grace your pathetic little town with her magnificent presence again!"

"Then don't!"

"Don't tell Trixie what to do!"

"Do you WANT to come back?"

"Of course not! But if the Great and Powerful Trixie wishes do to so she can go anywhere she wants!"

"Can not!"

"Can so!"

Big Macintosh cleared his throat. "Ladies…" He then quailed under the furious combined gaze of not one but two incredibly POed mares.

"You stay out of this!" They barked as one, then immediately became angry at their impromptu agreement.

"You don't you talk to Big Mac that way!" Rainbow Dash snorted angrily.

Trixie harrumphed. "Trixie can talk to anypony she wants, anyway she wants. And furthermore…"

STOMP.

Big Macintosh stomped his hoof. Once. The ground shook with a small tremor as several of the little ponies fell over at the ensuing aftershocks. Trixie and Rainbow Dash stopped their arguing in favor of maintaining their balance.

"As ah was SAYING…" Macintosh said once he was sure he had everypony's attention. "This squabblin' ain't helpful and it's not the kind of example y'all want to be setting for the foals, is it?"

Rainbow Dash kicked at the ground with her hoof and Trixie hung her head, the two of them having the grace to be abashed. "No…" They said in unison, for the third time. It was really getting on each other's nerves.

"Good." Big Mac nodded. "Now, ah've been up since…well, the night before last. Ah'm plum tuckered and want to get some shut-eye. So ah want you two to quit yer squabbling and a feudin' and keep an eye on everypony. Alright?"

"You got it." Rainbow Dash said quickly, making sure to beat Trixie to the punch. The showmare, who had opened her mouth to answer, quickly shut it. No need to seem like she was agreeing with the rainbow mare, after all.

Macintosh nodded amiably and stood up, stretching as he did so. Then he turned to the foals and said. "Ah'm countin' on y'all to behave…and to keep an eye on these two." He nodded to the two grown mares. "Make sure they behave too."

Pipsqueak saluted. "Can do cap'n!" The others imitated him in saluting, albeit a bit more sloppily.

"Heeeey!" Rainbow objected. "Just wait a—"

"Not now Dashie." Big Mac forestalled her. "Ah'm really tired and ain't in the best of moods. We'll talk later, okay?"

"But…" Dash sighed. "Fine. Whatever."

Bemused and a little tired, Big Macintosh turned around. "Aww, dun be like that." He gave his new marefriend a quick peck on the lips. Rainbow Dash perked up immediately as the kids either awwwed or giggled. If looks could kill, Trixie would've had Rainbow Dash be six feet under and pushing up the daisies. "See you in a bit Dash."

"See ya Mac." Rainbow waved. As soon as the farmpony went inside the tent, her good mood wore off. "Look Trixie," she turned back around.

"That's the Great and Powerful Trixie to you." Sniffed the blue unicorn.

"…Yeaaah, no." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, blowing a lock of her hair out of her face. "I don't know what you're up to, but I'm gonna be keeping an eye on you."

"Use both eyes." Trixie sneered. "You might learn something." She flicked her tail dismissively and walked off. Fuming, Rainbow turned and stalked off in the other direction until they sat on opposite ends of the campsite.

"…You ever get the feeling they forgot we were here?" Archer asked as she finished off her oatmeal.

"Hmm hmmm." Came the chorus of agreement from the rest of her peers.

Sweetie Belle set her bowl down. "Maybe we should help!" Once she was sure she had everypony's attention, she explained. "This trip was all about learning how to cooperate and get along right?" The other five little ponies looked at each other and nodded. "So…how about if we help Rainbow Dash and Trixie become friends?"

"That's a great idea!" Snails applauded. "That'd be super awesome!" To have not one but two of his childhood heroes become friends? That'd make it, like, at least….he frowned, math wasn't his strong suit. Finally he decided that Trixie and Rainbow Dash doubling up would make it three times as cool.

Silver Spoon was a bit more restrained. "I don't know…those two are really stubborn." She said hesitantly as she thought back to the night before when she and Snails first came across Trixie. "And Trixie is pretty stuck up and…_mean_."

"Aw, c'mon Spoony." Archer nudged her. "No offense but it's not like you were much different than her at the start of this trip."

Silver blushed and gave an awkward nod. "I know, I know…but I-I didn't like it when ponies thought of me like that. I don't know if Trixie even minds it. You can't change a pony if they don't even WANT to change."

"Then let's find out!" Sweetie Belle hopped to her hooves. "I'm gonna go talk to Trixie and Silver Spoon, you can talk to Rainbow Dash!"

Pip raised a hoof. "What about the rest of us?"

"You guys can….hmmm…Snails, you and Dinky can help Silver Spoon talk to Rainbow Dash and Archer and Pip can come with me!" Sweetie was on a roll. "We'll have them becoming best friends by the time we get home! They'll think it's an excellent idea."

"What a ridiculous idea!" Trixie reared and whinnied in distress at the three little ponies who had approached her. "Are you out of your mind?"

Sweetie Belle's face fell. "Well…we just thought that maybe you and Rainbow Dash…"

Trixie held up a hoof. "Trixie is going to stop you right there. There is no 'Trixie and Rainbow Dash.' "

"Shouldn't that be Rainbow Dash and I?" Sweetie Belle interrupted, looking at Trixie sideways. Behind her Archer rolled her eyes and silently mouthed 'dictionary' at her.

"Trixie always receives top billing." The unicorn snorted. "And it is irrelevant. There is no Trixie and Rainbow Dash, no 'us' in any way shape or form. Trixie will have nothing further to do with that ruffian."

Sweetie grumbled. "Yeesh, you sound like my sister." She facehooved.

Pipsqueak hesitantly stepped his way forward. "Um, Miss Trixie…aren't you lonely being out in the woods all by yourself?"

Her anger partially quailed by the adorableness of the colt's high, soft voice and accent, Trixie only responded with an indignant snort. "The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't need anypony."

"But…" Pip objected. "Even Princess Luna was lonely when she came to visit Ponyville—and she's the Princess! Then she made friends and it made her be happy." He shuffled his hooves. "M-maybe…it could make you be happy too?"

Trixie bit her lip. "W-who says Trixie isn't happy now?" She countered shakily. "What makes you think I'm not head over hooves HAPPY?!" Her smile had taken on a forced, almost twisted look that reminded Sweetie Belle of an incident involving Twilight Sparkle and a doll that she tried to block from her mind.

Archer decided to answer Trixie's question. "Uh, we found in a tent, by yourself, in the middle of nowhere and your cape and hat look like they haven't been washed in forever and Sweetie almost sent your tent on fire." Sweetie pouted as Archer finished off her list with a very dry deadpan. "Even Pinkie Pie would be a bit down after all that."

The filly's simple answer just caused all of the anger and denial to leak out of Trixie like a stuck balloon, leaving her looking and feeling deflated. She looked away. "If Trixie is…less than satisfied then it is because of how other ponies treat her!" An idea clicked as she turned around. "Yes, it is just like the young colt said!" Pip let out a brief 'woah!' as he felt himself being magically lifted up in the air and enveloped in a crushing hug by Trixie.

"Princess Luna and I are two of a kind—underappreciated, misunderstood! Two lost souls adrift in a world that fails to appreciate their talents. Yes, I must meet her!" She twirled on her back hooves. "Together the two of us with our combined talents can take the world by storm. Why—"

"Uh that's not really what we meant." Sweetie Belle said.

Archer nodded. "Also? You're making Pip turn green." Where Sweetie's objection didn't really register with the showmare, Archer's remark got her to promptly stop spinning and quickly holding Pip as far away from her as she could.

Trixie smiled nervously at the dizzy young colt. "Are you…okay?"

Pip's eyes spun in circles as he nodded faintly. He burped, then bit his lip. With exaggerated care Trixie gently set him down and then backed away like he was an armed bomb.

The little colt fell down on his rump as he waited for the world to stop spinning. "I'm okay…"

Sweetie Belle looked up at Trixie. "Uh anyway…."

"Yes…" Trixie coughed. "The Great and Powerful Trixie can see now why other ponies are uneasy around her—They're all jealous of her amazing skills and talent! That's why everypony dislikes Trixie. That's why nopony is ever sorry to see her go…or looks forward to seeing her again." She rubbed her face with her hoof. "They're just stupid and jealous and…stupid!"

Archer rubbed the back of her neck. "Um, it kinda might have had something to do with you being a big bragging jerk too, you know?" She offered.

"Yeah!" Sweetie nodded. "You turned my sister's hair green and made a bunch of other ponies feel bad. That wasn't nice!"

"…Trixie forgets, were you here to make me feel better or worse?" She asked.

"Both! I mean neither! Um…." Sweetie Belle lost her train of thought.

Pip raised his hoof. "Gosh, we don't want to make you feel bad Miss Trixie." Everypony turned to look at him. "But other ponies don't like to feel bad either and that's what you did." He got up and trotted over, gently resting his head on Trixie's hock. "I bet if you say you're sorry everypony will forgive you…everypony likes Princess Luna even though Nightmare Moon was really mean and scary. And now she has lots of friends and is really happy and fun."

Trixie grit her teeth. "Fine…but why do I, er, why does TRIXIE have to make nice with that obnoxious pegasus?"

"Cuz Rainbow Dash is really loyal and stuff." Archer answered. "And if you can make friends with her, you can make friends with anypony!"

Sweetie nodded. "Besides, you *did* zap her with a lightning bolt. You need to apologize."

"And if she decides not to accept Trixie's apology?" The blue unicorn queried.

Pipsqueak piped up. "Well, then that's up to her. Big Macintosh told me that if you've upset somepony the only thing to do is to apologize…even if that pony doesn't want to hear it, you've still got to say it because it isn't just about them. It's about you and the kind of pony you are." Pip recited, closing his eyes to help him remember what he'd been told. "You have to decide if you're the type of pony who walks away from a problem you made—even if you didn't mean to—or are you gonna stick with it until you fix it? When you see somepony who needs a hoof, are you gonna help them out, or just walk away because they don't wanna accept it at first? Will you just quit when things look hard?"

"Big Macintosh said that…." She mused softly. Then Trixie's eyes steeled. "Trixie may be called a great many things…but quitting is never one of them!" She tossed her mane, letting her cape billow behind her. "Very well! The Great and Powerful Trixie is so great and powerful that she can do anything—even if it means trying to get along with the ponies who shunned her! I will show her! I'll show them all! Nothing can keep the Great and Powerful Trixie down! NOTHING!"  
>"Yippee! Hooray!" The three eager foals cheered, hopping up and down.<p>

Smiling, Trixie added a silent postscript to her declaration. "And nothing will stop me from showing Big Macintosh just who the best mare here is!"


	20. Chapter 20

"Rainbow Dash?"

The pegasus in question had no sooner settled down and gotten comfy than she was approached by Silver Spoon, Snails and Dinky. She looked up. "Hey squirts, what's up?"

Silver Spoon, the ringleader, inhaled. Because of the sensitive nature of this conversation she knew extreme care had to be used in broaching it to the mercurial and touchy pony. "Well—"

"We want you and Trixie to become friends!" Blurted out Snails, grinning proudly. Silver Spoon winced.

SNAP.

Dash's rose-colored eyes flew open. "WHAT?!" Her voice rose, cracking and turning into a squeak. "You want me to be-friends?! With HER?"

"Um…sorta?" The gray filly gave a wide, forced smile. Rainbow Dash punctured her smile with a scowl.

"Seriously? Why in Equestria would you want me to have anything to do with the Lame and Wimpy Trixie?"

Dinky spoke up, her eyes bright and earnest. "Because making new friends is fun!" She chirped, bouncing a bit in place. "She was really nice when she saved me from falling out of a tree and she helped Pip down, even if he did go sick on her hooves…"

"Yeah…still not seeing why I should be wasting my time here." Rainbow snorted. "I've already got the best friends in the world, and now you want me to go for an obnoxious, loud mouthed, lying pain the rump? I have my standards, you know."

Silver Spoon stomped her hoof. "Come on! Aren't you supposed to be the mature adult here?" She objected. "Doesn't she deserve a second chance? You gave me one!"

"That isn't the same thing!"

"Yes it is!" The filly stomped her hoof. "I was a mean filly! I made other ponies feel bad, I said mean things and I was a j-jerk." She hiccuped, getting worked up. "If you're saying that you can't forgive Trixie for ONE thing that she did…t-then why should I believe that anypony can forgive me for all the bad things I did?" She finished softly, taking off her glasses so she could roughly rub at her eyes.

Rainbow Dash's ears lowered and gently flattened against her head. "Aw, c'mon…no fair. That's playing dirty. Fillies aren't allowed to out argue grown-ups." She groaned. "Hnng. Fiiine. I'll give Trixie a chance to…NOT be Trixie, I guess."

"Yay." Snails smiled. "You're the coolest ponies of all time!" Rainbow Dash's face fluctuated, not sure how to respond to praise (which she loved) when it was joined with praise for Trixie (which she did not).

Looking to Silver Spoon, who was putting her glasses back on, Rainbow sighed. "So, how exactly did you want this to go? I just walk up to her and say, 'hey wanna be friends?'"

Silver Spoon shrugged as if to say, 'couldn't hurt.' Dinky tapped her hoof thoughtfully against her chin. "I know! You could offer to buy her a muffin!"

Rainbow felt a smile tug at her lips. "Hmm…I wonder where you got that idea…."

"Um, I 'unno!" Dinky chirped innocently, repressing a case of the giggles. Badly.

Pursing her lips, Rainbow Dash pretending to think hard about it. "Was it….Cheerilee?"

"Nooooo…." Giggles started leaking out of Dinky's mouth as she shook her head.

"Hmmm…what about—Big Macintosh?" Dinky shook her head faster, unable to risk opening her mouth for fear that once she started laughing, she wouldn't be able to stop. "Really? Not Big Mac? You sure?" Rainbow grinned, having fun with this. "Hmm…gee, what about—Carrot Top?"

Dinky shook her head even faster, her cheeks bulging out like a chipmunk.

Pretending to stomp her hoof in frustration, Rainbow Dash put on her best Twilight-I'm-really-in-the-middle-of-deep-egg-headed-thinking-face. Her eyes lit up. "All right! I got it for sure this time!" She leered, her rosey-pink eyes narrowing as she stared right into Dinky's face. "It was-Princess Celestia!"

That did it, Dinky fell over, stricken by a near-terminal case of the giggles. "N-no! Silly!" She chortled, kicking her legs with mirth. "It was f-from mommy!"

Rainbow clapped her hoof to her forehead and made a 'd'oy' noise and accompanying derpy face. "Oh….of COURSE! I shoulda known!" She fake-sulked, sending Dinky into further peals of laughter. Snails started laughing too. Silver Spoon rolled her eyes, but a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

Getting to her hooves, Rainbow Dash left her campers in stitches as she went to find Trixie. She had just rounded the long side of Trixie's tent when she came face to face with the mare in question. The two came upon each other so quickly their snouts were almost touching.

"Rainbow Dash." Trixie's voice was frostily polite, chilly as mountain air and her smile was about as warm.

"Trixie." Rainbow returned, matching her inflection for inflection.

"It seems to Trixie," Trixie continued. "That we should set a good example for the foals. As the bigger mare, Trixie feels it only appropriate that she make the first move."

Rainbow snorted and just narrowly managed to bit down on her lip to prevent her from connecting Trixie's assertion on being the bigger mare to the blue unicorn's rump. "Actually—" Rainbow Dash cut her off. "I feel that I should go first, since I AM in charge."

Trixie trembled in barely repressed rage. "Oh no, Trixie INSIST." She gritted her teeth. "Trixie should be the one to extend the olive branch in the name of peace, friendship and getting along—edness."

"That isn't even a word." Rainbow Dash pointed out, her politeness beginning to fray at the edges.

"Forgive me, I wasn't aware that you were SO literate." Trixie ground out between her teeth, her smile getting wider and more tenuous the harder she fought to keep control.

Rainbow nodded. "Not at all…I'm sure there are a lot of things you aren't aware of."

"No more than you, certainly."

"Whatever you say."

There was a pause before Trixie spoke up again. "Trixie feels that you've been doing simply a wonderful job as these foals chaperone…I'm sure them getting lost and separated in the woods after nearly being attacked by a bear could have happened to anypony."

"Anypony—such as a third-rate magician who made up a story about besting an Ursa Major, for instance?"

"Trixie wouldn't know." Her eye twitched. "Or perhaps a feather-brained pegasus with a voice like a squeaky horseshoe insisting that she is the greatest pony ever."

"What about an egotistical pony who runs with her tail between her legs when her not-so little lies get exposed?"

"Whatever little quips and quibbles you may have, Trixie as the better mare still insists upon making the first move herself!"

Dash snorted. "Nopony ever beats Rainbow Dash to the punch!" Rainbow shot back, pressing her forehead against Trixie's and pushing.

"I suppose that would explain why it looks like you're retaining every ounce of liquid you've consumed lately!" Trixie snarled, matching Rainbow Dash move for move.

"The only fat I see around here is between your ears!" Rainbow growled.

"I've seen pigeons fly better than you!"

"Spike's little claw is bigger than your horn—more useful too!"

"I don't even know who that is!"

"That's okay—nopony's gonna know who you are either! Or care!"

From there things only escalated as the two mares argued and jabbed over the right to make the first apology. The irony sailed clear over them.

Trixie pawed the ground with her hoof. "When I'm finished with you, you'll never impress anypony ever again!"

"You've never impressed anypony before!" Rainbow Dash shot back, flaring out her wings.

"Just shut up and let me apologize!" Trixie shrieked.

"If you don't let me apologize first then I'm gonna REALLY give me a reason to apologize to you!"

"That doesn't even make any sense!"

"Your FACE doesn't make any sense!" Rainbow announced with triumph.

"What the hay is going on out here?" Yawned a sleepy-faced Big Macintosh as he poked his head out of the tent flap, blinking wearily. Thinking quickly, Trixie and Rainbow Dash stood on the hindlegs and wrapped a foreleg around one another's shoulders and smiled widely.

"Why, we were just apologizing for getting under each others' skins, weren't we?" Trixie said. Rainbow nodded, not wanting to be shown up in front of her coltfriend—especially after he made a big deal about wanting the two of them to stop fighting earlier.

"Totally!" Dash's head bobbled up and down so fast that Macintosh got a headache trying to follow it. "I was just apologizing to Trixie for thinking that she was a fat-headed fraud!"

"And Trixie was making amends for considering Rainbow Dash an immature pain in the flank!

Big Mac blinked. "Um, okay…" He was still too tired to follow this. "Think you two could, uh, agree and apologize a little more quietly?"

"Sure thing!" "No problem!" The two agreed quickly, smiling broadly all the while. Big Macintosh shivered at the sight of all those teeth and didn't quite know why.

He slowly pulled his head back inside the tent, eager to grab some more much-needed rest before things got crazy again. Assuming they hadn't already. As soon as he was gone, Trixie and Rainbow Dash broke apart again, glowering balefully at one another.

Rainbow snorted. "I can see what you're up to. You are NOT gonna show me up in front of Big Macintosh!"

Grinning to herself, Trixie let out slight hmph as if the whole thing were below her notice. "When Trixie is done, that handsome stallion will see who is the best mare in Equestria…and who is the rest." She gave Rainbow a meaningful look. "Play your cards right, and I may help you find a more suitable companion for you: a donkey perhaps or an old sow."

"Pfff, whatever oh weak and helpless Trixie. Bring. It. On."

The two mares matched glares. The challenge had been made and accepted.

Celestia help them all.  
>&amp; &amp; &amp;<p> 


End file.
